How much gold is there on planet Earth

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on estimating the amount of gold present on Earth, distinguishing between commercially available gold and the total amount in the Earth's crust. It highlights that the commercially viable amount of gold depends on market prices, which influence mining decisions. The conversation references a claim of 100,000 tons of gold yet to be retrieved, as noted on a specific mineral website. Additionally, it suggests exploring the concept of elemental abundance for further insights.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of gold mining economics
  • Familiarity with geological concepts of elemental abundance
  • Knowledge of market price influences on resource extraction
  • Basic comprehension of Earth's crust composition
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  • Research "gold mining economics and market price fluctuations"
  • Explore "geological surveys on elemental abundance in the Earth's crust"
  • Investigate "historical gold extraction methods and their efficiency"
  • Learn about "environmental impacts of gold mining practices"
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Geologists, mining engineers, economists, and environmental scientists interested in gold resources and their implications on market dynamics and ecological effects.

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How much gold is there on planet Earth, rough estimates in tonnes ?
 
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bozo the clown said:
How gold is there on planet Earth, rough estimates in tonnes ?

I don't happen to know.
I guess I would look in google
"abundance of the elements"

your question could be interepreted two ways

A. how much gold is commercially available or could be mined
at a certain price

(this depends very much on the price, if the price goes up enough they will go back to worked-out mines and get more gold out of the rock that they would not get with the present price)

B. how much gold actually is there in the Earth's crust, including deposits nobody would dream of mining, down to some depth

or how much gold is in the whole Earth not even restricting it to the crust.

-----
I am curious which type of question-----the commerical one or the physical one----you mean. It will be interesting to see if anyone answers. did you try googling "abundances of elements" or something like that?
 
This page claims that there are 100,000 tons of gold yet to be retrieved from the Earth:

http://www.mii.org/Minerals/photogold.html

Here is an old PF thread that came up on Google:

https://www.physicsforums.com/archive/t-2774
 
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