Gold is a finite resource. This means there is only a small amount of gold that can be mined. There have been talks of gold mining reaching its peak in the last couple of months and the supply has been dwindling. The supply of gold from mining fell by 1.3% in the last quarter of 2019. It was the first time since 2008 that global mining showed no growth. There were only 3,464 tons produced by gold mines globally. However, the supply of gold was boosted by recycled gold. The rise in recycled gold is attributed to the rising prices of gold. Gold dealers have been seeing an increase in the number of people taking advantage of the gold and selling their jewellery for cash. Now, with the response that global governments have taken towards the Coronavirus pandemic, scrap gold is boosting the supply of gold more than ever. Gold dealers brisbane are seeing an increase in the amount of gold customers are selling.
Gold is living up to its reputation of being a store of wealth and a safe haven investment in times of crisis.
In the last quarter of 2019, recycled gold rose by 16% which translates to 335 tons of recycled gold. This brought the overall recycled gold supply to 1,304 tons. This is the highest it has ever been since 2012. This is more significant than what people mostly realise. Mining might be the main source of gold but gold dealers brisbane help to balance the market by reducing the pressure off the mining industry. In addition to that, recycling gold is good for the environment and the running costs are far smaller than those for gold mining. It is said that mining gold to make an 18 karat ring leaves almost 20 tons of waste.
There are some countries that rely on newly mined gold as much as they rely on the gold they recycle. These include:
India : The country demands 864.2 tons of gold but only 113 tons comes from recycling
China demands 817 tons but only gets 120 tons recycled.
In the U.S, 171.8 tons of gold are used annually and 129 tons of it comes from recycling.
These countries aren’t just the biggest producers of gold, they are also leaders in the gold recycling industry. China and India have such a high demand for gold that they have to import gold products from other countries. Together, these countries contribute more than 40% on the global demand for gold. To meet the current demands for gold, the world is relying more heavily on gold recyclers and gold dealers brisbane who buy old, used and damaged gold to be recycled.
The gold industry is continuously looking for opportunities for recycling in other materials besides jewellery. Opportunities for recycling gold from industrial products like electronics make up 10% of the gold supply. However, reclaiming gold from electronics like cellphones might too complicated and too expensive to attempt. However, there are people who have dedicated their time, effort and dare we say, brilliance to come up with technology that would make extracting gold from things like cellphones easier and cost-effective. For now, the gold industry and gold dealers brisbane in particular have been encouraging more people to cash in their old, unwanted and damaged gold products to recycle into new products.
