Ever wonder how much gold has been mined in all the world? The best estimate at the end of 2011 is that around 165,000 metric tons (or tonnes) have been mined in all of human history. That’s about 181,881 ordinary tons or 363,762,732 pounds, or 5,820,203,717 ordinary ounces. Gold typically is measured in troy ounces, which are a little bigger than ordinary ounces (a troy ounce is 31.1034768 grams whereas an ordinary ounce is 28.3495231 grams). There are 32.1507466 troy ounces in a kilogram or 32,150.7466 troy ounces in a metric ton.
Over half of the gold that is mined gets used for jewelry. 18% constitute official holdings (as in central banks of nations), 16% take the form of investments, 12% is for industrial uses, leaving 2% unaccounted for. Since jewelry is the most common use of gold, gold consumption worldwide is most easily gauged by gold jewelry consumption. India is far and away the biggest consumer of gold, followed by China, the USA, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Russia.
As for the amount of gold that's used for monetary and investment purposes, In 2011, about 2,100 metric tons of gold appeared in what are known as exchange-traded funds (ETFs). As of 2009, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) held 3,217 metric tons of gold. In 2010, the central banks of nations held a total of 28,398 metric tons of gold.
Statistics can be interesting but the burning question on prospectors' minds is "What's happening with gold prices?" Since gold prices have TRIPLED in the last 10 years and gold price trends since 1900 continue to point up, there's never been a better time to find your own gold! And with the price of gold skyrocketing, you don't have to find much to completely pay for your equipment— and the rest is pure profit!
Source: All the World's Gold
