It is impossible to know when humans first began gold mining. However, archeologists have gold evidence dating all the way back to 4200 B.C., indicating that gold mining could be at least 7000 years old. Since then, gold mining activity has risen at an exponential rate. The World Gold Council estimates 190,040 tons of gold have been mined throughout history. To put that into perspective, around 3531 tons remained in 2019, which was the biggest decline in mining since 2008.
Today, mined gold is distributed among several industries. Jewelry, asset diversification and electronics are several common uses for gold. Mining is extremely capital intensive and today around 60% of the world's mining operations are surface mines, while the rest are underground. With an ever growing demand and finite quantity. Concerns for depletion of resources have gradually increased. The World Gold Council estimates that there are 54,000 tons of below ground gold reserves waiting to be mined. Based on these figures, there is about 20% of gold still to be mined. But new technologies and discoveries make this a moving target.
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