A deposit of high-quality gold ore containing around 1,000 metric tons (1,100 US tons) of yellow metal has been found in central China, valued at 600 billion yuan or US $83 billion, the Chinese state media reported.

The founding of the reservoir was announced by the Geological Bureau of Hunan Province which detected 40 gold veins within a depth of 2 kilometres (1.2 miles) in the northeast county of Pingjiang, according to Science Alert.

The discovery could be considered the largest and most lucrative reservoir of gold ever uncovered, surpassing the over 900 metric tons of gold reserves to lie within the South Deep mine in South Africa.

These 40 veins were thought to contain 300 metric tons of gold with further 3D modelling suggesting additional reserves could possibly be found at a depth of 3 kilometres. The gold is expected to be eight times heavier than the Statue of Liberty, as per Live Science.

“Many drilled rock cores showed visible gold,” said bureau prospector Chen Rulin.

Officials revealed that every metric ton could contain around 138 grams or nearly 5 ounces of gold, which is relatively high considering ore excavated from underground mines is considered high grade if it contains if it contains more than 8 grams.

Samples of the core taken from the site hint that the deposit could extend further than it was thought to before, making it a massive gold haul. 

China is already the country to produce the most bullion in the world, accounting for around 10% of the global gold output in 2023, as per Reuters. 

However, it still uses gold more than it can produce as it consumes three times more than it can produce or dig up. In turn, it heavily relies on importing gold from other countries such as Australia and South Africa. 

The new gold deposit in Hunan can aid China in alleviating some of the lack but it still won’t take the country out of the problem entirely. 

The entire deposit can only supply the nation’s needs for around 1.4 years when the current consumption rates are observed.