A "supergiant" deposit of high-quality gold ore containing an estimated 1,000 metric tons (1,100 US tons) of the precious metal has been discovered in central China, according to Chinese state media.
Valued at up to approximately 600 billion yuan or US$83 billion, the discovery could be one of the largest and most lucrative reservoirs of gold ever uncovered, surpassing the 900 metric tons estimated to lie within the mother of all gold reserves, South Deep mine in South Africa.
Editor's note: An earlier version of this article suggested the newly found deposit was the world's largest, which has not been verified. ScienceAlert has updated the article, noting some commentators are not yet convinced of the deposit's scale and feasability.
The Geological Bureau of Hunan Province announced the detection of 40 gold veins within a depth of 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) in the northeast Hunan county of Pingjiang.
These alone were thought to contain 300 metric tons of gold, with 3D modeling suggesting additional reserves may be found to a depth of 3 kilometers.
"Many drilled rock cores showed visible gold," says bureau prospector Chen Rulin.
Core samples suggest every metric ton of ore could contain as much as 138 grams (nearly 5 ounces) of gold – an extraordinary level of quality considering ore excavated from underground mines is considered high grade if it contains more than 8 grams.
China already dominates the world's gold market with reserves considered to be in excess of 2,000 tons earlier in 2024, its mining industry contributing around 10 percent of the global output.
Announcements of the findings have contributed to a further increase in the already skyrocketing gold price as demands for the resource continue to rise amid global uncertainty.
Just how many bonanzas of the valuable ore remain yet to be discovered around the world is unclear, with experts divided on whether we've reached peak gold.
Forged in the furnaces of embracing stars long before Earth was formed, our planet's glittering veins are a finite resource that take eons to precipitate into an easily mineable form.
Based on these latest findings, we might be far from exhausting economically viable reserves.
Core samples taken around the periphery of the Hunan site hint that the deposit may extend even further than initial predictions, making the reservoir beneath its soil a true dragon's haul.
It's been a notable year for gold discoveries.
In March, a treasure hunter in England found what was estimated to perhaps be the biggest gold nugget ever found in the country.
And just two months ago, research by scientists in Australia discovered a new mechanism that may lead to the formation of gold, suggesting the seismic activity of earthquakes actually plays a role in the creation of large nuggets.
But that's not all. In addition to learning more about how gold naturally forms, scientists are also investigating new things that can be done to manipulate the precious resource.
A study published in April reported the creation of a new kind of two-dimensional gold called 'goldene', measuring only a single layer of atoms in height, which has some interesting properties not seen in the three-dimensional form of gold.
While gold is an ancient metal that has been prized all throughout human history, there's clearly a lot we're still finding out about it.