A reservoir of high-quality gold ore containing over 1,000 metric tons (1,100 US tons) of the yellow metal has been discovered in central China and it is valued at 600 billion yuan or US $83 billion, according to the Chinese state media.
The Geological Bureau of Hunan Province announced the discovery of the deposit which detected 40 gold veins within a depth of 2 kilometres (1.2 miles) in the northeast county of Pingjiang, as per Science Alert.
The gold discovered could be considered the largest and most profitable reservoir of the metal to be ever found as it surpasses the 900 metric tons of gold reserves that lie deep within the South Deep mine in South Africa.
These 40 veins were thought to contain 300 metric tons of gold with further 3D modelling suggesting additional reserves could possibly be found at a depth of 3 kilometres. The gold is expected to be eight times heavier than the Statue of Liberty, as per Live Science.
“Many drilled rock cores showed visible gold,” said bureau prospector Chen Rulin.
Officials revealed that every metric ton could contain around 138 grams or nearly 5 ounces of gold, which is relatively high considering ore excavated from underground mines is considered high grade if it contains if it contains more than 8 grams.
Samples of the core taken from the site hint that the deposit could extend further than it was thought to before, making it a massive gold haul.
China is already the country to produce the most bullion in the world, accounting for around 10% of the global gold output in 2023, as per Reuters.
However, it still uses gold more than it can produce as it consumes three times more than it can produce or dig up. In turn, it heavily relies on importing gold from other countries such as Australia and South Africa.
The new gold deposit in Hunan can aid China in alleviating some of the lack but it still won’t take the country out of the problem entirely.
The entire deposit can only supply the nation’s needs for around 1.4 years when the current consumption rates are observed.
