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According to this picture/fact, all gold ever mined is able to fit in a 20x20x20 meter cube.

All of the gold mined in the history of the world would fit into a 20x20x20 meter cube.

Is there any evidence of this, as this seems like very very little gold?

unor
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user1622951
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  • The factoid I am familiar with says that all the gold ever mined would fit into a single Olympic size swimming pool. – Wad Cheber Jun 06 '15 at 23:44
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    A cubic volume always sounds like less than it is. To think about it a another way; a 1 meter diameter "wire" of gold would stretch for over 10km – Richard Tingle Jun 07 '15 at 10:41
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    All the gold in the world would fit in a singularity – Paul Jun 08 '15 at 02:22
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    Saying the length of each dimension is probably what makes it seem smaller: 20 by 20 by 20 meters sounds like less than 8000 cubic meters. – Peter Olson Jun 09 '15 at 01:17

2 Answers2

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From Carlin: Where the Train Stops ... and the Gold Rush Begins, InfoMine

Official estimates indicate that total world gold production since the beginning of civilization has been 4.97 billion troy ounces.

4.97 billion troy ounces is 155 million kg.

The density of gold is 19,300 kg/m3.

155 million kg of gold only requires 8000 m3. That is 20m x 20m x 20m.

That's as of about 2008. A Sklivvz's answer shows, by 2012, the cube had grown to 21m x 21m x 21m.

Here's how big that is:

enter image description here

(From Gold - Visualized in Bullion Bars, Demon-ocracy.Info)

Mark Rogers
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    It seems like a lot when you say 155 million kilograms, but a 20m^3 cube doesn't sound very large. Thanks however! – user1622951 Jun 04 '15 at 22:12
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    Your source does reference to official estimates but that source is broken and return a 404. I have tried to find a new source on that webside, but i haven't succeded. So unfortunely your source seems to stand on weak ground. – Broken Orange Jun 04 '15 at 23:44
  • I get an archived link to a pdf that works fine for me. Check now? – Faraz Masroor Jun 05 '15 at 01:12
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    Point of fact: 154,490 metric tons = 154,490,000 kg which, at 19.3 g/cm^3, requires approximately 8,004.66 m^3 of space. So the answer is: Not quite, technically, but close enough. – Engineer Toast Jun 05 '15 at 02:06
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    @EngineerToast Well, it's more like "It used to be, but isn't anymore. But it's still close enough." And isn't it *slightly* more than 19.3? At this scale, it makes quite a difference. In any case, it's going to take a while until we'll have enough to fill a cube of 21 meters on side. – Luaan Jun 05 '15 at 06:40
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    @user1622951 It's *not* 20 m^3 it's 20^3 m^3 i.e. 8000 m^3! – Bakuriu Jun 05 '15 at 07:31
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    @Bakuriu - In English, it's common to say "20 meters cubed" (a cube 20 meters on a side) which is not to be mistaken with "20 cubic meters". So 20m^3 is correct. – Steve Ives Jun 05 '15 at 09:42
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    20m^3 is a physical measure, @steveives, and it's the wrong value at that. (20m)^3 != 20(m^3) – Sklivvz Jun 05 '15 at 10:11
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    @Skliwz - sorry, you're right. 20m^3 means "20 cubic meters" and not "20 meters cubed". – Steve Ives Jun 05 '15 at 10:12
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    @BrokenOrange: The source with the official estimate (_Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology: The Nevada Mineral Industry 2006_) is in the Web Archive: http://web.archive.org/web/20120226134555/http://www.nbmg.unr.edu/dox/mi/06.pdf ------ There on the page 6 you can read: _The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that total world gold production, since the beginning of civilization, has been 154,490 metric tons (4.97 billion troy ounces)._ – pabouk - Ukraine stay strong Jun 05 '15 at 13:52
  • Another article that corroborates this [from the BBC](http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-21969100). It is thin on references, but still a good read. –  Jun 05 '15 at 15:13
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    [That cube is worth around $5.825 trillion USD, $7.645 trillion AUD, £3.815 trillion GBP or €5.241 trillion euros.](http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=4.97+billion+troy+ounces+gold) – Bardi Harborow Jun 07 '15 at 03:18
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    Has it grown that much, or is Sklivvz answer based on a different estimate? 155kt to 174kt in just 4 years is quite a lot. – CodesInChaos Jun 07 '15 at 09:25
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    I also assume this is pure gold. Keep in mind that a lot of gold sold for jewelry is not pure gold. – DoubleDouble Jun 08 '15 at 21:59
  • CAVEAT: You must assume the gold is melted before stuffing it in the aforementioned cube – Mike Pennington Dec 01 '18 at 01:46
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According to Wikipedia and the World Gold Council,

A total of 174,100 tonnes of gold have been mined in human history, according to GFMS as of 2012.This is roughly equivalent to 5.6 billion troy ounces or, in terms of volume, about 9020 m3, or a cube 21 m on a side.

Gold, Wikipedia

Supply, World Gold Council

Mark Rogers
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Sklivvz
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