China finds world’s largest gold deposit worth over £63 billion

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China says it has discovered the world’s largest known deposit of gold, estimated to be worth over $80bn (£63bn).

The deposit at the Wangu goldfield in central China could yield more than 1,000 tonnes of gold, the Geological Bureau of Hunan was quoted as saying by Chinese state media.

The bureau announced the detection of 40 gold veins, which are long and narrow openings in rocks filled with the metal, around a mile deep in Hunan province’s Pingjiang county. These rocks alone may have 300 tonnes of gold and there could be more reserves at deeper layers, geologists said.

“Many drilled rock cores showed visible gold,” Chen Rulin, a geologist and ore prospector at the bureau, said.

Test drills near the site’s “peripheral areas” found more gold, suggesting that the deposit could be even larger.

In all, there could be over 1,000 metric tonnes of the precious metal at the site which, at current prices, would bring in more than 600 billion yuan, or about $83bn (£65bn).

Global gold prices rose after the discovery was announced, but the long-term trajectory remained uncertain due to geopolitical tensions around the world.

The demand for the precious metal has increased in China amid global uncertainties. And the latest find, according to the Hunan Provincial Geological Institute, could be “significant in helping safeguard the country’s resource security”.

The Wangu goldfield is one of China’s most critical mining hubs and the country has invested nearly 100 million yuan for mineral exploration in the area.

China produced about a tenth of the world’s gold as of 2023.

The nation is a global leader in mining, dominating the production of precious metals used to make new generations of batteries and electronics.

It also leads the world in the export of technology for mining, developing new ways to reduce carbon emissions in the process.