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Cetun t1_j33kbst wrote

Reply to comment by soulsurfer3 in TIL that all the gold that has ever been mined in all of human history could fill about three Olympic-sized swimming pools. by westondeboer

The amount in our crust is actually relatively small amount, even if you were to mine at all. It's estimated that the amount we can reasonably extract from the crust would amount to a solid cube 100m by 100m thick. Contrast that with how much gold is currently in the Earth's core, since heavier elements sink. If you were to take all the gold in the Earth's core and spread it evenly across the surface of the earth it would cover the entire surface of earth in a sold 1m of gold.

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soulsurfer3 t1_j33lasc wrote

Damn. That’s crazy. I know that it’s comes up through magma and volcanic activity. But had no idea how much was in the core. And also how much that is i. the crust that will never be mined. Makes you think that the future for mining rare elements may really be in asteroids.

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