According to various sources, the total amount of gold above ground is estimated to be 212,582 tons by the end of 2023. It is expected that 244,040 tons will be extracted for use in the next 20 years, according to current technology.

What makes gold rare and valuable is a limited supply. The gold price reached a record high of nearly $2,800 per ounce this year.

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Would gold still be valuable if we could find other sources?

Ocean floors hold promise of gold reserveshowever, it is probably in an extremely diluted form in water, making it impossible to process.

Recently, some astronauts have predicted the possibility of gold, as well as other metals and minerals, being found in near-Earth objects such as asteroids. This is still in the hypothetical stage and may remain so for a long time due to the astronomical cost of space missions required to extract gold from asteroids and bring them back to Earth.

The science of making gold in the laboratory

Gold is a chemical element with 79 protons in each atomic nucleus. Theoretically, gold can be made by removing one proton from the 80 protons that mercury has. Or by adding one on top of 78 proton platinum using nuclear reactors.

The aim is to turn them into gold by rearranging their atomic structure. For a small amount of gold it will still cost a lot of energy and money.

There are other potential ways to turn items into gold using chemical reactions. bacterial strains And laser lights.

None of these methods have proven to be consistent, efficient, cost-effective, scalable or profitable. Remember, even the slightest impurity in the material properties of gold will defeat the purpose. Most importantly, the value of everything depends on customer perception.

For thousands of years, gold has served as a store of value and a symbol of wealth, power and prestige. It adorned the crowns of kings, holy relics, religious sites and bank vaults. File photo source: Reuters

You can now buy digital gold, mutual funds, and exchange-traded funds, all of which serve as financial instruments. gold investments.

Gold is also used to make electronics, dental and medical instruments, defense and aerospace equipment, as well as automobiles because the metal is an excellent conductor of electricity and is resistant to corrosion.

Would lab-grown gold have the same cultural and financial value as mined gold? Share this article with your friends and family and ask them what they think.

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