China says it's just discovered a $16.4 billion undersea gold reef. Yeah, it's big
- 8 years ago
SHANDONG, CHINA — Chinese scientists have found the country's largest gold deposit 2,000 meters beneath the East China Sea, Chinese news agency Sina reports. Located near the Sanshan Islands, the deposit is estimated to contain more than 470 tonnes of reserves.
According Sina and People's Daily, the Chinese Communist Party's official newspaper, the survey project spanned around three years, using 1,000 geological workers. Sixty-seven sea drilling platforms were installed bore through more than 120 kilometers seabed.
The drilling platforms have nine beams that extend 10 meters into the sea bed. Each diamond tipped drill bit is capable of boring five to 10 meters before needing to be replaced. It took six months to drill the deepest hole, which extends 1,900 meters below ground.
The area has always been known to contain gold. The desposit was actually discovered 50 years ago, but scientists were unaware of its scale.
With each tonne yielding around 4.3 grams of gold, the entire reserve is estimated to worth more than US$16 billion dollars.
China is currently the world's largest producer of gold.
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According Sina and People's Daily, the Chinese Communist Party's official newspaper, the survey project spanned around three years, using 1,000 geological workers. Sixty-seven sea drilling platforms were installed bore through more than 120 kilometers seabed.
The drilling platforms have nine beams that extend 10 meters into the sea bed. Each diamond tipped drill bit is capable of boring five to 10 meters before needing to be replaced. It took six months to drill the deepest hole, which extends 1,900 meters below ground.
The area has always been known to contain gold. The desposit was actually discovered 50 years ago, but scientists were unaware of its scale.
With each tonne yielding around 4.3 grams of gold, the entire reserve is estimated to worth more than US$16 billion dollars.
China is currently the world's largest producer of gold.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Welcome to TomoNews, where we animate the most entertaining news on the internets. Come here for an animated look at viral headlines, US news, celebrity gossip, salacious scandals, dumb criminals and much more! Subscribe now for daily news animations that will knock your socks off.
Visit our official website for all the latest, uncensored videos: http://us.tomonews.net
Check out our Android app: http://bit.ly/1rddhCj
Check out our iOS app: http://bit.ly/1gO3z1f
Get top stories delivered to your inbox everyday: http://bit.ly/tomo-newsletter
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