How much gold has been found in the world?
About 244,000 metric tons of gold has been discovered to date (187,000 metric tons historically produced plus current underground reserves of 57,000 metric tons). Most of that gold has come from just three countries: China, Australia, and South Africa. The United States ranked fourth in gold production in 2016.
All of the gold discovered thus far would fit in a cube that is 23 meters wide on every side.
Most of the gold that is fabricated today goes into the manufacture of jewelry, but gold is also an essential industrial metal that performs critical functions in computers, communications equipment, spacecraft, jet aircraft engines, and a host of other products.
Learn more: USGS commodity website for gold
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1998 Assessment of Undiscovered Deposits of Gold, Silver, Copper, Lead, and Zinc in the United States
This report summarizes the results of the 1998 National Mineral Resource Assessment that estimated the gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc in undiscovered deposits in the United States. This project also estimated the identified resources and past production of these five metals. Assessment results include the following: (1) It is estimated that 18,000 metric tons (t) of gold, 460,000 t...
Authors
Rivers of gold; placer mining in Alaska
No abstract available.
Authors
Warren E. Yeend, Peter H. Stauffer, James W. Hendley
Gold
Through the ages, men and women have cherished gold, and many have had a compelling desire to amass great quantities of it -- so compelling a desire, in fact, that the frantic need to seek and hoard gold has been aptly named "gold fever." Gold was among the first metals to be mined because it commonly occurs in its native form -- that is, not combined with other elements -- because it is...
Authors
Harold Kirkemo, William L. Newman, Roger P. Ashley
Related
Filter Total Items: 15
1998 Assessment of Undiscovered Deposits of Gold, Silver, Copper, Lead, and Zinc in the United States
This report summarizes the results of the 1998 National Mineral Resource Assessment that estimated the gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc in undiscovered deposits in the United States. This project also estimated the identified resources and past production of these five metals. Assessment results include the following: (1) It is estimated that 18,000 metric tons (t) of gold, 460,000 t...
Authors
Rivers of gold; placer mining in Alaska
No abstract available.
Authors
Warren E. Yeend, Peter H. Stauffer, James W. Hendley
Gold
Through the ages, men and women have cherished gold, and many have had a compelling desire to amass great quantities of it -- so compelling a desire, in fact, that the frantic need to seek and hoard gold has been aptly named "gold fever." Gold was among the first metals to be mined because it commonly occurs in its native form -- that is, not combined with other elements -- because it is...
Authors
Harold Kirkemo, William L. Newman, Roger P. Ashley
Updated Date: February 3, 2025