As a mineral that has been used since 4000 BC, gold continues to maintain its place in our lives in various fields. Gold, which was initially used in the production of decorative items, later began to be used as jewelry. After a while, trade started to be made with gold. About 2500 years ago, gold coins were produced.
What made gold such a valuable metal was not its brilliance and color. It had limited reserves. Four-fifths of known reserves have been removed, with only one-fifth remaining. According to the analysis based on the data of the World Gold Council, a total of 201,296 tons of gold has been extracted from the mines throughout history, while the remaining gold in the reserves is 53 thousand tons. 80% of the gold was consumed.
So What Happened To The Tons Of Gold Extracted So Far?
- Almost half of the gold mined is kept in the form of jewellery. India and China, which have more than 50 percent of the global jewelry demand, are among the countries with the largest markets for gold jewelry production.
- Gold is also used a lot, especially as an investment tool. More than 44 thousand tons of gold are held in gold-backed mutual funds.
- Apart from investors, central banks also have gold in their hands. The reason central banks hold gold is to diversify their assets and to protect against changes in the exchange rate. Of course, while doing this, they own almost one fifth of the gold in the world, and the gold in their hands exceeds 35 thousand tons.
- Approximately 30 tons of gold, which has a high usage area in fields such as electronic devices, dentistry and space studies, is also found in these areas.
18 Years Will Be Enough. . .
The size of gold reserves was announced as 53 thousand tons as of 2020. The leaders of the reserves are Australia, Russia, USA, China and Peru. These countries are known to be the world’s largest gold producers. Calculations show that if no new investments are made and no new gold reserves are found, it will only take 18 years for the remaining gold to run out. Before the investments made, this period was calculated as 16 years. Gold producers have a big role in this. If gold is invested and new reserves are found through exploration, the amount of gold can increase.
As the reserves begin to run out, recycling activities will accelerate and the gold supply will gradually decrease. Data from the Australian Government’s Department of Industry, Science and Resources (DISER) also predicts that the global gold supply will gradually decline. Obviously, we will have to strive to prolong the life of gold.
What do you think we will wear at weddings when the gold reserves are depleted? So what do you think about this subject?
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