The Underwater Treasure That is Worth More Than 1,000 Trillion Dollars
On the bottom of the oceans lies an enormous undiscovered treasure that is worth more than 1,000 trillion dollars.
As early as 1872, the British chemist Edward Sonstadt discovered that there was an unknown treasure on the ocean floor, but even today mankind has failed to bring it to the surface. Around 20 million tonnes of gold can be found there!
According to estimates by the US National Oceanic Service, the gold from the depths of the oceans is so diluted that there is only one gram of this precious yellow metal for every 100 million metric tons of water. There are also gold pieces on the ocean floor that are undissolved but are hidden in rocks and must be mined.
The problem is that our current technology hasn't gone as far as providing a practical way to exploit this massive quantity of underwater gold, Grunge reports.
The Quest to Bring the Underwater Gold to the Surface
If you are wondering why there was no gold rush for the underwater gold, it is because it is very difficult to extract it compared to the gold found on the surface of the Earth.
Although there were many people who tried to bring out gold from the oceans, no one was able to successfully exploit it and make a fortune out of it.
Usually, when it came to underwater gold mining, one of the options was to use remotely operated vehicles, but the problem is that they could only hold a certain amount of weight and it would be too time-consuming. There are also proposals to bring the rocks to the surface using a belt of sorts and do the mining on land.
Different people are adopting different approaches to mine the ocean gold, and as technology advances, the possibility of it happening increases.
According to the latest information, the Chinese, being the largest gold producers in the world, are currently developing ships and equipment to be able to do underwater exploitation.
How Much Gold is in the Oceans?
Scientists have calculated the approximate amount of gold available in the oceans. According to numerous studies consulted by Forbes, the oceans hold around 20 million tons of gold.
That would mean that the value of the massive underwater treasure - if we take into consideration that in August 2021 one gram of gold is quoted at $ 57.39 - would be 1,147 trillion dollars. Such a huge number!
The amount of gold on the ocean floor of our planet is therefore enormous. If we do the math, every human being on Earth could own about nine pounds of this precious metal that has been the main material used in jewelry making since antiquity till the present day.
