According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the oceans contain about 20 million tons of gold. However, this gold is spread throughout the normal mineral content of seawater to the tune of “parts per trillion.” As the NOAA puts it, “Each liter of seawater contains, on average, about 13 billionths of a gram of gold.
How much gold is inside ocean
To put that into perspective, the average person drinks about 2 liters of water per day. So, if you were to drink seawater every day for your entire life, you would only consume about 0.00026 grams of gold.
The amount of gold in the ocean is actually quite significant, but it is also very dilute. This means that it is not economically feasible to extract gold from seawater at this time. However, technological advances may make it possible to do so in the future.
In addition to gold dissolved in seawater, there are also gold deposits on the seafloor. These deposits are formed when gold-bearing minerals are carried by rivers and streams into the ocean. The gold then settles to the bottom of the ocean, where it can be concentrated in certain areas.
The extraction of gold from seafloor deposits is also a challenging task, but it is more feasible than extracting gold from seawater. There are a number of companies that are currently working on developing technologies to extract gold from seafloor deposits.
So, while there is a lot of gold in the ocean, it is not as easy to get as you might think. However, technological advances may make it possible to extract gold from seawater and seafloor deposits in the future.
Which country gold is mined from the sea?
As of now, there is no country that commercially extracts gold from the sea. The cost of extracting gold from seawater is still much higher than the value of the gold that is extracted. However, there are a number of companies that are working on developing technologies to make the extraction of gold from seawater more feasible.
One company that is working on this technology is Nautilus Minerals. Nautilus is developing a system called the Seafloor Production System (SPS) to extract gold from seafloor deposits. The SPS uses a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to collect gold-bearing sediment from the seafloor. The sediment is then processed on board the ROV and the gold is extracted.
Nautilus has been granted a license to operate the SPS in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, which is an area of the Pacific Ocean that is located between Hawaii and Mexico. The company plans to start commercial production of gold from the SPS in 2023.
Another company that is working on extracting gold from the sea is OceanaGold. OceanaGold is developing a system called the Gold Recovery System (GRS) to extract gold from seawater. The GRS uses a series of filters to collect gold particles from seawater. The gold particles are then concentrated and extracted.
OceanaGold has been testing the GRS in New Zealand and Australia. The company plans to start commercial production of gold from the GRS in 2025.
So, while there is no country that commercially extracts gold from the sea at this time, there are a number of companies that are working on developing technologies to make it possible in the future.
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