The Staggering Price Tag Of The World's Largest Gold Deposit

The gold trade was rocked at the end of 2024 by a shocking discovery. In a November report, Chinese state media announced that a record-breaking gold deposit had been found in Hunan province. A team of geologists identified 40 gold veins in rock formations in the Wangu gold field, amounting to around 330 tons of the precious metal reaching 6,500 feet below the ground. Those numbers alone wouldn't break any records, but when the geologists turned their survey data into 3D computer models, they realized they'd only hit the tip of the iceberg. The models projected that the veins run far deeper than initially thought, nearly 10,000 feet below the gold field. It is estimated that the entire deposit contains 1,100 tons of gold, which would make it worth approximately 600 billion yuan, or $83 billion.

This discovery has turned gold markets on their head, and could potentially put China in a much stronger position within the global gold industry. China is already the global leader in gold production, producing 10% of the world's annual supply. Despite this, China is heavily reliant on importing gold from other countries because the nation consumes more than twice as much gold as it produces. However, there are still many steps that must be taken before a full-scale mining operation can take place. Starting a gold mine is no easy feat. Not only that, but some people aren't convinced by the worth of the find.

If the Wangu gold field really does contain as much gold as the preliminary reports suggest, that would place it among the largest precious material deposits ever found. For decades, the largest remaining gold deposit known to humankind has been in the Witwatersrand Basin in South Africa, home to the South Deep mine. South Deep is the world's most productive gold mine, with an annual output of over 10 tons. As of the writing of this article, the Witwatersrand reserve has been estimated at 1,025 tons of gold. According to the BBC, approximately 30% of all the gold mined in human history has come from the Witwatersrand Basin, and consequently, South Africa spent decades as the world's top gold producer. However, South African yields have fallen steadily since the 1970s, and China has risen to the top in its place. 

It the projected reserves of the Wangu gold field are indeed 1,100 tons, it would surpass the Witwatersrand Basin as the largest gold reserve in the world. This could allow China to rise even further above the competition, to a point rivaling the height of South Africa's success. It's hard to say if this will really happen, though, because the estimated value of the Wangu deposit has yet to be confirmed. Computer models offer a promising forecast, but the true test will come when mining of the newly-found deposit gets underway.