While gold has been the world’s most popular precious metal since its discovery, its supply isn’t unlimited. In the past two years, gold has had extraordinary gains, surpassing almost every other investment out there. The precious metal has been seen as a symbol of wealth all around the world. It’s mainly been used as jewellery and as investments. Unfortunately, gold is a natural precious metal, meaning it is very limited and rare. 

Gold is mined and exported from several mines around the world. As of recent years, it is estimated that approximately 190,000 metric tons of gold has been minted. Majority of this gold is exported from China, Australia, Russia and the United States. Each year, the total amount of gold mining production is calculated in comparison with the previous year’s total. According to the World Gold Council,the total gold mine production was 3531 tonnes for 2019, which was a 1% decrease from 2018. This annual decline in gold production was the first since 2008. 

Experts have come up with the concept of “peak gold”, which is the moment when we mine the maximum amount of gold possible in one year. After peak gold, the gold supply will slowly decline in the following years. Although a dramatic decrease in gold supply is not likely, it is expected to see a gradual decrease over several years. 

How much gold is left?

Gold production in the United States has already begun to decrease in the past few years. Experts and mining companies use two ways to determine the value of the undiscovered gold thats left. The first way is with reserves, referring to the gold that is economic to mine at today’s gold prices. The second way is Resources, which refers to gold that may become economic to mine after examination. 

By using these calculations, the US Geological Survey estimated the below-ground stock of gold reserves to be approximately 50,000 metric tonnes. That is approximately 20% of gold left to be mined, however that is a very rough estimate. 

Majority of the world’s gold was mined in South Africa, Australia, the United States, China, Canada, Russia, and Peru. the Witwatersrand Basin in South Africa. New gold mines continue to be discovered, however large deposits of gold have become incredibly rare. Majority of the world’s gold production came from older mines. Although gold’s future is unpredictable, this natural precious metal will inevitably become more and more rare as the years go by.