Largest gold deposit in the world found - and it is accessible to everyone
NASA scientists estimate that there are almost 20 million tons of gold dissolved in the water of the seas and oceans.
NASA scientists have discovered that the oceans harbour the largest natural reserve of gold in the world, theoretically accessible to everyone.
Estimates suggest that nearly 20 million tons of gold are dissolved in seawater. However, the concentration of this metal is extremely dilute across a vast volume of water, making its extraction highly complex.
To put this into perspective, humans have collectively mined only about 200,000 tons of gold throughout history—just 1% of the estimated gold content in the seas and oceans.
How much gold is inside the Earth?
Even more astonishingly, the Earth’s core holds the largest reserve of gold, with approximately 2 million billion tons, according to Australian geologist Bernard Wood. Unfortunately, this reserve remains entirely inaccessible.
Extracting gold from seawater poses significant technological and environmental challenges. While technological advancements have made extraction more feasible, the process remains prohibitively expensive.
The ocean floor also offers valuable resources, particularly in hydrothermal sulphide deposits, known as “black smokers,” which release minerals from deep within the Earth.
Mining operations in these areas have already commenced in certain regions, such as Papua New Guinea, which issued the world’s first underwater mining permit in 2017. This initiative could potentially trigger a new “gold rush.”
However, such exploration poses severe risks to marine ecosystems, many of which are poorly understood and highly vulnerable.
Each mining operation could destroy hundreds of square kilometres of marine habitats annually, disrupting food chains and threatening biodiversity.
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