If we talk about places that have the largest deposits in the world, we know we have to talk about China. China has the largest gold and rare earth deposits that have been found, but now they have found much, much more gold. Underground. In the province of Hunan something extraordinary has happened, and geologists believe they have located a deposit with more than 1,000 metric tons of gold. A value close to 600,000 billion yuan. Wow!! There is still nothing confirmed, but there is already enough excitement in the Asian country and in the gold markets!
The gold hidden under Hunan
It is possible that there is a mega deposit beneath this region, in the Wangu gold field, a place that has had a mining tradition for decades. As we tell you, it is not a “virgin” region, but deeper below where minerals are already being searched for there could be even more.
300 tons of gold at fairly reasonable depths, but further down the gold could multiply exponentially.
Resource is not the same as reserve
Here it is worth explaining that when we talk about a certain number of tons (in this case, more than 1,000), it does not mean that all of this can be exploited tomorrow, but that these are estimates of resources, not certified reserves. So, we are talking about predictions, not real data. Many more drillings and many analyses are still needed to know how much gold can come out of there.
In this case, the studies talk about more than 40 gold veins detected at around 2,000 meters deep, with projections going down to 3,000.
What have the geologists seen?
The Chinese teams have spent months analyzing thousands of meters of drill cores, they have created 3D models, crossed data and some samples have shown visible gold. That is very rare to see, but it is no guarantee that there is more. That is why further research is needed.
Taking gold out of the Earth’s interior
Extracting gold at more than 2,000 meters is quite complicated, there is heat, a lot of pressure and above all, many ventilation problems. Not to mention energy costs, that is why here the law of the ore rules (how much gold there is per ton of rock). If the concentration is high, the mine can be profitable even that deep. If not, maybe it is better to leave the mine alone.
Is it really as big as they say?
Yes, to put it into context, the most famous mine at the moment is in South Deep, in South Africa, and there they are around 870 tons of reserves. If Hunan manages to confirm what the models suggest, it would be above that.
Why is there so much gold there?
The region is part of the Jiangnan orogenic belt, an area marked by ancient tectonic movements that created deep fractures, in those “scars” of the crust minerals were formed over millions of years, so the conditions are almost perfect to form large gold systems.
And now?
Now we have to wait, we have to drill and record a lot of data. If the veins are confirmed as continuous and exploitable, China will have to launch one of the most ambitious projects in recent history, but they also have to ensure strategic security to mine it.
Obviously, if achieved, it would place China on the podium of the global market, and that is very interesting for them (and for anyone)!