If you were hoping make your fortune mining the sea, consider this: Gold in the ocean is so dilute that its concentration is very small. One study found there is only about one gram of gold for every 100 million metric tons of ocean water in the Atlantic and north Pacific.
According to the National Ocean Service, our oceans hold some 20 million tons* of gold, suspended in normal seawater.
According to ACS, there is approximately 700 trillion dollars worth of gold in seawater. Ultimately, however, it would cost more to extract the gold than it is worth.
The oceans hold $771 trillion worth of gold. Scientists estimate that the oceans of the world contain approximately 20 million tons of gold, in the water itself. More specifically, in tiny particles of approximately 13 billionths of a gram per liter.
We do know that gold makes up about four parts per billion of the earth's crust. What we don't know, however, is precisely how much gold is still out there. The WGC estimates that there are 54,000 tonnes of “below-ground gold reserves” waiting to be mined.
The short answer to the questions posed in this article title is: Yes! gold traces have indeed been identified within the lunar soil. Back in October 2009, NASA conducted a mission called LCROSS, which involved crashing a booster rocket into the Moon at nearly 6,000 miles per hour.
The largest monetary treasure haul found was on the wreck code named Black Swan, discovered by Odyssey Marine Exploration in 2007 off of Gibraltar. The salvage team reportedly found 17 tons of coins valued at $500 million; an amount that is both staggering and said to be “unprecedented” in the treasure hunting world.
To date, about 244,000 tons of gold have been discovered on earth – about 187,000 tons have been produced and the underground reserves amount to about 57,000 tons.
About 244,000 metric tons of gold has been discovered to date (187,000 metric tons historically produced plus current underground reserves of 57,000 metric tons). Most of that gold has come from just three countries: China, Australia, and South Africa.
There is also (undissolved) gold in/on the seafloor. The ocean, however, is deep, meaning that gold deposits are a mile or two underwater. And once you reach the ocean floor, you'll find that gold deposits are also encased in rock that must be mined through.
Currently, the world's largest source of gold is located in the Witwatersrand basin. This area in South Africa has provided a large amount of the world's gold. It is also believed that there is still about 40% of the basin that has yet to be mined and still holds much more gold.
Each liter of seawater contains, on average, about 13 billionths of a gram of gold. Another way to look at it, is it would require processing about 30 million pounds of sea water to get one ounce of gold.
The largest single source of gold in history has been the Witwatersrand Basin of South Africa. Witwatersrand accounts for roughly 30% of all the gold ever mined.
The World's Most Valuable Shipwreck: The Nuestra Senora de Atocha. On this same day, 35 years ago, the legendary deep-sea explorer Mel Fisher discovered the shipwreck of the Nuestra Senora de Atocha. The galleon was sailing from the new world to Spain. It was hit by a hurricane and sank in 1622.
How Much Treasure is Down There? The short answer, Sean Fisher says, is $60 billion. Fisher is a shipwreck hunter at Mel Fisher's Treasures in Key West (Sean is Mel's grandson), and he gives this figure based on his company's historical research.
The ship was loaded with an estimated $17 billion worth of gold, silver and jewels when it sank in 1708, and its wreck was only discovered in 2015. The navy used a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) to examine the wreck; its precise location is being kept a secret to deter treasure hunters.
Psyche 16 is nestled between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter and is made of solid metal. As well as gold, the mysterious object is loaded with heaps of platinum, iron and nickel. In total, it's estimated that Psyche's various metals are worth a gargantuan $10,000 quadrillion.
In our solar system alone, there is an asteroid between Mars and Jupiter named 16 Psyche that scientists believe contains more than 700 quintillion dollars in gold and other precious metals. That's a lot of wedding bands and gold crowns!
Psyched for Psyche
Unlike most rocky, icy asteroids, the Psyche asteroid—located between Mars and Jupiter—contains a motherlode of metal, including gold, iron, and nickel. And the estimated value of all that metal? About $700 quintillion.
Source: Office of the Chief Economist. Australia is estimated to have the world's largest gold reserves, with 9,500 tonnes or 17 per cent of the total world estimated gold reserves of 57,000 tonnes. Geoscience Australia estimates that 60 per cent of Australia's gold reserves are in Western Australia.
Estimates by the Geological Survey of Victoria indicate that 75 Moz of undiscovered gold may occur in the Stawell, Bendigo and Melbourne zones1, while several multi-million ounce deposits in Victoria potentially remain undiscovered.
Examples of primary deposits include those mined at Kalgoorlie in the Super Pit, Granny Smith, St Ives, Norseman and Mount Magnet (WA), Gympie and Ravenswood (Qld), Callie (NT), Stawell (Vic), Cadia (NSW), Henty (Tas) and Challenger (SA). At Olympic Dam (SA) gold occurs and is mined with copper and uranium.