While gold is often considered a scarce asset, Uganda explained on Wednesday that recently conducted exploration surveys indicate that there’s roughly 31 million metric tons of gold ore waiting to be mined in the region. Moreover, a spokesperson from Uganda’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development said there’s an estimated 320,158 tonnes of refined gold available.
During the last five years, the value of one ounce of fine gold has risen by 48% against the U.S. dollar. An ounce of gold’s spot market value tapped an all-time high this year at $2,060 per unit.
Muyita said most of the ore was found in Karamoja, Busia District, alongside central and western areas as well. Wagagai is set up in Mawero Parish, Butebo sub-county, and it is estimated that there’s 12.5 metric tons of mineable refined gold at the location.
Moreover, South Africa is the world’s largest producer and but there’s also significant gold mining happening in the U.S., Canada, Australia, Russia, and China. The precious metal’s scarcity proposition however is constantly put to the test by surprise ore deposits found worldwide.
Smuggling gold is very prominent in Africa according to a United Nations (UN) report that says production in the Congo region “continues to be systematically underreported.” This means that while statistics say there’s only 2,500 to 3,000 metric tons mined each year, a significant amount of mined gold may be entering the market that’s not being reported.
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