China unearths massive $83B gold reserve in Hunan province
China has discovered gold deposits in Hunan province, estimated to be worth nearly $83 billion, the province's geological office announced. According to preliminary estimates, the newly discovered reserves contain over a thousand tons of the precious metal. The treasure is located at a depth of 6,561 feet.
1:21 PM EST, November 27, 2024
Chinese geologists discovered over 40 veins of gold ore in the Pingjiang area of Hunan province. A total of 331 tons of gold were found, with the highest content being 138 grams per metric ton. The value of the discovered ore is estimated at $82.9 billion.
Experts predict that at a depth of over 9,843 feet, there is more than 1,000 tons, but extracting gold hidden so deep will be quite expensive.
Contrary to popular belief, it is not South Africa or Russia that are the largest gold producers, but China. In 2023, their share in global production was about 10 percent. In the third quarter of this year, production amounted to 295 tons.
Thanks to intensive investments in the natural resources sector, China secured 124 new deposits of strategic minerals over the last year, including valuable industrial resources such as graphite, lithium, copper, and gold. These discoveries are key to the country's self-sufficiency and energy security, reports focus.pl.
The largest lithium deposit in Asia discovered in China
At the beginning of the year, China discovered huge deposits of "white gold" in the southwestern part of Sichuan province. It is estimated to be the largest discovered so far in Asia. China already significantly outpaces Western countries in investments in the extraction of rare earth elements. Currently, these are used globally in innovative energy and transport (including the production of batteries for electric cars), as well as in semiconductor production and the defense industry.
China currently holds 60 percent of the rare metals market. In 2022, they extracted 231,000 tons, while the second-largest, the United States, extracted 47,000 tons. As we wrote in money.pl, lithium is one of the key raw materials in the process of energy transformation of global economies.
