If the figure is correct, it will become the largest gold mine in the world, surpassing even South Africa’s South Deep with its 1,025 tonnes of gold.
The recently discovered deposit of gold ore in China can be called “super-giant”. This is reported by Popular Mechanics magazine.
Chinese experts say it may be the largest deposit of any precious metal, not just gold ore, in existence today. They estimate the reserves of the “super-giant” deposit in Hunan province at 1,100 tons.
According to Chinese media, a group of geologists has discovered more than 40 gold veins with reserves of about 330 tons of gold ore located at a depth of 2,000 meters below the Wangu gold deposit in Pingjiang County. However, 3D modeling refutes this figure, showing that up to 1,100 tonnes of gold may be found at a depth of 2,900 metres. If the models are accurate, the total value of the field could reach about $83 billion.
It is noted that the find gained even more significance from the fact that the new discovery contains 138 grams of gold per tonne of ore – a high concentration that is rarely found in gold mining. Chen Zhulin, an ore exploration expert at the Geological Survey of Hunan Province, said:
“Many of the samples showed the presence of visible gold.”
It is important to note that if the 1,100 tonne figure is correct, it makes the new discovery the largest gold mine in the world, surpassing even South Africa’s South Deep with its 1,025 tonnes of gold. In the ranking of the five largest gold mines in the world, deposits in Indonesia, Russia, New Guinea and Chile follow. The Carlin Trend and Cortez gold mines, located in Nevada, rank sixth and tenth in the world.
Interestingly, historically 233,000 tons of gold have been mined worldwide, and all of this continues to exist in one form or another, with two-thirds of this production occurring after 1950.
China, already the world’s largest producer of gold, with a share of about 10% of global production, is heavily dependent on the metal, consuming roughly three times as much gold as it produces annually. Such high rates of consumption force the country to purchase large quantities of gold from other countries, thus China is also the largest importer of this precious metal. This new discovery caused alarm in the global gold markets, as a result of which the price of gold rose significantly.
According to the bureau’s deputy head, Liu Yongjun, additional deposits of gold ore have been discovered during drilling on the periphery of the site.
Discoveries of new deposits around the world
In Argentina, the largest deposit of gold, silver and copper in the last three decades was recently discovered. This monumental deposit, with an estimated value of 337 billion dollars, located in the mountainous region of the province of San Juan, opens up new opportunities and poses new challenges to the country’s economy.
