Russia, Australia and South Africa are sitting on the largest untapped reserves of gold

The US Geological Survey (USGS) says humans have mined around 206,000 tons of gold so far. The World Gold Council puts the figure a bit higher at 238,391 tons. That would fit into a cube about 22 metres or 72 feet across. Almost half of this gold has gone into jewellery while the rest is split between coin bars and central bank holdings

The USGS estimates that there are still about 70,550 tons of gold in deposits that can be mined profitably. The World Gold Council gives a slightly lower figure for confirmed reserves at 60,370 tons. It also estimates there could be another 145,626 tons in total gold

The biggest reserves of unmined gold are found in Russia, Australia and South Africa. These countries are sitting on massive underground stores. But when it comes to gold production China is number one bringing more gold to market each year than any other country.