Gold is one of the most precious and expensive metals and is often used as a safe hard asset - an alternative investment to fiat currency. With that in mind, this infographic takes a look at global gold mines and deposits, and how they all rank up.

As far as we know, there has not been a similar initiative to compile such a comprehensive database of the world's gold mines and deposits. Nevertheless, the folks at Visual Capitalist and Natural Resource Holdings have managed to put together a high quality database, with their research findings answering common questions like "How rare is a 1.0 million ounce undeveloped deposit?" as well as "How many gold mines exist in Canada?"

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