In a remarkable feat for the mining industry, a team of geologists in central China has uncovered what is being hailed as the world’s largest gold deposit, valued at a staggering US$83 billion (approximately 600 billion yuan).

Chinese officials have announced the discovery of a massive deposit of high-quality gold ore, potentially worth around $83 billion, which could end up being the largest known deposit of the precious metal anywhere in the world.

Then again, China has the know-how and experience to make things happen. The East Asian giant is already the world’s biggest producer of gold, just behind Russia and Australia. In fact, most of the world’s excavated gold – enough to make a solid 23 by 23-meter (75 by 75-foot) cube – has been unearthed from those three nations.

Valued at approximately 600 billion yuan or US$83 billion, the discovery could be considered the largest and most lucrative reservoir 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.

China has discovered gold deposits in Hunan province, estimated to be worth nearly £66 billion, the province's geological office announced. According to preliminary estimates, the newly discovered reserves contain over a thousand tonnes of the precious metal.