A massive gold deposit with estimated reserves of over 1,000 tons has been discovered in southern China, Xinhua news agency reported on Thursday, citing Hunan Province’s geological bureau.

According to the report, geologists have unearthed over 40 gold veins within a depth of 2,000 meters beneath the Wangu gold field in Pingjiang County.

Within the depth of 3,000 meters, the site is estimated to contain over 1,000 tons of gold, valued at $83 billion, Xinhua reports.

“Many drilled rock cores showed visible gold,” an ore-prospecting expert at the bureau, Chen Rulin, told the outlet. He noted that a ton of ore in the 2,000-meter range contained up to 138 grams of gold.

The report also cited the vice head of the bureau, Liu Yongjun, as saying that the geologists used modern ore prospecting technologies, including 3D geological modeling.

Liu said that test drilling around the Wangu field’s peripheral areas also showed promising potential.

The latest discovery comes as gold prices have rallied to record highs amid growing global uncertainty, a weaker US dollar, and strong demand from central banks.

China is the world’s leading gold producer, accounting for around 10% of global output in 2023, according to data from the World Gold Council.

The share of gold in the overall reserves of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) amounted to 5.7% at the end of October. Official bullion holdings remained unchanged at 2,264 tons in October, for the seventh consecutive month.

In 2023, the PBOC outpaced all central banks, adding 225 tons of gold to its reserves. The country ranked sixth in the amount of gold it has in its reserves last year, behind Russia, France, Italy, Germany, and the US, according to Statista.

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