Chinese officials have announced the discovery of a significant gold deposit in central Hunan province, valued at approximately 600 billion yuan ($82.9 billion). According to state media outlet Xinhua, this could potentially be the largest known deposit of the precious metal worldwide.
The discovery, made by the Hunan Academy of Geology, identified more than 40 gold ore veins at depths exceeding 2,000 meters in Pingjiang county. The core exploration area has yielded 300.2 tons of gold resources, with a maximum grade recorded at 138 grams of gold per metric ton, which is notably high compared with most other gold mines globally. Chen Rulin, an ore-prospecting expert with GBHP, told state media, “Many drilled rock cores showed visible gold.”
In addition to the central site, test drills in surrounding areas revealed further gold deposits, suggesting the potential for additional large-scale discoveries in the future. Projections estimate that more than 1,000 tons of gold reserves may lie at depths beyond 3,000 meters, underscoring the region’s immense untapped potential.
News of the discovery has reverberated across the mining industry and the global economy. China, already the world’s largest gold producer, accounted for roughly 10% of global output in 2023, according to the World Gold Council. However, domestic demand continues to outpace supply, with 741.7 metric tons of gold consumed in the first three quarters of this year against a production output of 268.1 tons, making imports a critical component of the country’s gold supply chain.
As of late 2023, an estimated 234,332 tons (212,582 metric tons) of gold have been mined throughout human history, with more than two-thirds of this total extracted since 1950. To put this in perspective, if all the gold ever mined were melted down into a single cube, it would measure just 72 feet (22 meters) across, according to the World Gold Council.
This remarkable discovery in Hunan highlights China’s continued efforts to bolster its domestic gold reserves while exploring new opportunities to meet growing demand for the precious metal.
