Australia (especially Western Australia) is the one of the world's top producers of gold. About 60% of Australia's gold resources occur in Western Australia, with the remainder in all other States and the Northern Territory.
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.
Jewelry/Investment Grade Natural Australian Gold Nuggets generally have the highest purity (92% to 98% pure, 22KT to 23KT) of any natural gold nuggets found in the world, with very few exceptions.
Kalgoorlie, WA
Located in the WA Goldfields, Kalgoorlie was at the heart of the late 1800s Western Australian gold rush. It remains the largest region of gold mining and export in the country and is home to the massive Super Pit, a huge open-air gold mine with a history stretching back to 1893!
Australia is also a big contributor to the global gold industry, having the largest share of economic gold reserves in the world. Australia is the world's second-largest gold producer, trailing only China, with 282 tonnes of the precious metal produced in 2015-16, the highest yield in 13 years.
The country with the purest gold in the world is Switzerland, a country known for paying attention to quality. Below, the precious metals experts from First National Bullion and Coin, the best place to buy gold in Scottsdale, explain why this particular country has an affinity for pure gold.
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.
Leading markets for gold exports from Australia FY 2022
China was the leading export destination for Australian gold in terms of value.
It is perfectly legal to sell and buy gold in Australia. You can sell a kilo of gold bars, a wedding ring or an old coin. The Australian government has set guidelines for the sale of precious metals. There is no restriction on the weight or value of precious metal.
In short, 24-carat gold is the purest form of gold, at 99.9% purity.
In Australia this concentration of gold took place in the Earth hundreds of millions of years ago in the eastern states, and thousands of millions of years ago in Western Australia. As well as gold, the fluids can carry other dissolved minerals, such as quartz. This is why gold is often found with quartz.
No country in the world has 100 percent pure gold with absolutely no other alloys added—a goal that's virtually impossible to achieve, given how soft this precious metal is in its natural form. The purest type of gold available is 999.99.
999.999—six nines fine: The purest gold ever produced. Refined by the Perth Mint in 1957. 999.99—five nines fine: The purest type of gold currently produced; the Royal Canadian Mint regularly produces commemorative coins in this fineness, including the world's largest, at 100 kg.
As part of Australia's official reserve assets, the Reserve Bank holds an amount of gold.
Considered by most authorities to be the biggest gold nugget ever found, the Welcome Stranger was found at Moliagul, Victoria, Australia, in 1869 by John Deason and Richard Oates. It weighed gross, over 2,520 troy ounces (78 kg; 173 lb) and returned over 2,284 troy ounces (71.0 kg; 156.6 lb) net.
Victoria's gold-bearing rocks are sandstones, siltstones and mudstones, deposited in deep marine conditions some 400 million years ago. Today they form a bedrock spine that runs east to west through Victoria, with the Great Divide running along the crest of Victoria's Western and Eastern Uplands.
You can't buy, hold or sell gold unless it is a legitimate part of your trade or in the form of jewellery.
You must pay capital gains tax on selling gold Australia (a 28% tax rate) if your gold bullion has a higher value during the sale in comparison to the purchase price. Capital gains taxes typically have a lower rate than your earned income tax.
Physical gold, commonly known as gold bullion, is available to buy from registered dealers throughout Australia. However, it is important you do your research and have secure ways to store your bullion. If you want to add exposure to gold in your own portfolio, there are ways to invest without buying gold physically.
In Australia, the two most important are lode-gold deposits and copper-gold deposits, of which the latter includes iron oxide-copper-gold and porphyry deposits. Copper-gold deposits are the most significant contributors to the nation's gold inventory, accounting for 59% of reserves and 65% resources at operating mines.
The Boddington gold mine is a gold and copper mine located 13 km (8.1 mi) northwest of Boddington, Western Australia. Officially reopened on 3 February 2010, the mine has now become Australia's largest gold mine, eclipsing the Super Pit.
Kalgoorlie Super Pit
The Super Pit is the largest gold mine in Australia by size. It covers an area of 3.5km² and is located in the city of Kalgoorlie, in Western Australia right in the heart of the goldfeilds. The Kalgoorlie super pit is situated in Western Australia and is owned by Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines.
Industry would come to a standstill in general, and many specialty fields would go out of business, from aerospace engineering to nanotechnology to certain types of environmental control and protection.
There is an estimated 1 million tons of gold sitting in the topmost kilometer of the Earth's surface; the amount in the mantle and core is unknown. Of all the gold ever mined, approximately 80% of it is still in circulation today thanks to it's value and durability!
In satellite images of central Uzbekistan, a large circular cavity stands out amidst fields of sand and dusty plains. It is Muruntau gold mine, one of the world's largest sources of gold.