Nov 13 2007
Gold and the women of India
Gold is an indestructible element, which means that all of the gold that was mined throughout human history is still out there.
Man has mined 145,000 metric tons of gold throughout the millennia.
A metric ton = 1,000 kilograms, or 32,150 troy ounces. At $739 a troy ounce (as of Sept, 2007), a metric ton of gold is worth $23,800,000.00
370 metric tons of gold were mined during the California gold rush of 1849-1854, or .3% of the total gold mined in history.
The governments of the world hold 29,800 metric tons in their vaults, or 20% of all the gold ever mined.
Of that, the United States is the largest hoarder, with holdings just over 8,000 metric tons, or 20% of the gold held by governments, and just shy of 6% of the total amount of gold that has been mined.
Ironically, it’s the private holdings of the women of India who have the largest gold holdings – they hold over 13,000 metric tons of gold, woven into the fabric of their Sari’s and turned into jewelry. This represents about 9% of all the gold ever mined.
It seems the women of India are richer than us.