1) United States of America
As the global leader in gold reserves, the United States of America boasts a staggering 8,133.53 tonnes of the precious metal. However, concerns and criticisms have been raised regarding the authenticity of the bullion held in both New York and Fort Knox.
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.
China's gold reserves stood at 2,011t as of 2022, 30t higher m-o-m and accounting for 3.6% of its total foreign reserves. In 2022, China declared two gold reserve rises during November and December, totalling 62t.
Either way, there is financial uncertainty. Precious metals are the counterbalance to that uncertainty. Russia, China, Brazil, Egypt, India, Turkey, Qatar, and many other countries are stockpiling gold to overthrow the Dollar and ensure sovereignty.
China has recently considerably ramped up its gold imports, in an effort to diversify the People's Bank of China's (PBOC) holdings, as well as reduce their reliance on the US dollar (DXY).
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.
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.
Australia ranks top with highest gold reserves in 2020, followed by Russia and the US a distant third.
The United States has the largest gold reserve, with more than 8,000 metric tons of gold. This was more than twice the gold reserves of Germany and more than three times the gold reserves of Italy and France.
Located in South Africa, the Witwatersrand Basin represents the richest gold field ever discovered. It is estimated the 40% of all of the gold ever mined has come out of the Basin. In 1970, South Africa's output accounted for 79% of the world's gold production.
Countries such as Switzerland, Australia, and Canada are known for producing high-purity gold, while countries such as China and Russia are the largest producers of gold in the world.
The huge amounts of gold he possessed made him probably the richest man to have ever lived. Mansa Musa ruled the enormous Mali empire in the 14th century, and he had so much gold, that even his slaves were covered in this precious metal.
Today, many of the world's wealthiest individuals, such as Ray Dalio, John Paulson, Lord Jacob Rothschild and Naguib Sawiris, recognize the benefits of holding gold as part of their investment portfolios.
The main destination of Gold exports from Australia are: China ($5.86B), Hong Kong ($2.33B), Singapore ($1.95B), India ($1.42B), and Switzerland ($1.33B). The fastest growing export markets for Gold of Australia between 2020 and 2021 were China ($4.73B), India ($1.14B), and Hong Kong ($1.03B).
Mount Whaleback Mine in Western Australia, was the largest mine in Australia, producing approximately 88.8 million metric tons per annum (mmtpa) of Run-of-Mine (ROM) in 2021. The Mount Whaleback Mine is owned by BHP;Mitsui & Co Ltd;Itochu Corp, and is due to operate until 2037.
It's also home to the Golden Triangle, where the richest, purest gold has been found. The Golden Triangle is a region in northeastern Victoria, Australia that is known for the richest gold deposits.
Gold is taxable and this taxation is based on the total value in dollars rather than weight. Some important points to remember include: You are liable to taxation only when you make a profit from selling gold.
Make sure you have permission to pan for gold, as no one would be happy to find you trespassing on their land. You'll need to pick up a Miner's Right Permit to do any prospecting in Australia. You can easily apply for one online or at some tourist centres. Then you need to find a good spot to settle down.
Australia is the world's largest exporter of coal (35% of international trade), iron ore, lead, diamonds, rutile, zinc and zirconium, second largest of gold and uranium, and third largest of aluminium.
Yellow gold is described as such because of its yellow colour which is a result of it being alloyed with silver and copper.
Overall, Russian gold exports to China soared by 67.3% in physical terms and by 63.3% in monetary terms from 2021. However, Russia's share in Chinese gold purchases remains small. The main supplier of gold to China is Switzerland, with sales in 2021 totaling over US$34 billion.
The countries reporting the largest purchases in the first two months were Singapore (51.4 tonnes), Turkey (45.5 tonnes), China (39.8 tonnes), Russia (31.1 tonnes) and India (2.8 tonnes).