You asked, we answered: Are we running out of gold? | 12 March, 2026 | World Gold Council

Will we eventually run out of gold? There are two parts related to this question – the broader gold supply and mined production. Our answer to both is: not likely.

First, we are not likely to run out of gold supply. There are two major parts to supply: recycled gold and mined gold. While mined gold may be plateauing as noted previously, recycled gold supply comes from various sectors. As shown in Figure 1 below, total above-ground gold amounts to 219,891t. And because gold is virtually indestructible, almost all of it is available to come back to the market under certain market conditions. For instance, when the gold price is high, it may trigger sellbacks of gold jewellery from consumers and more industrial recycling – factors that are far more responsive to price than mined gold production.