https://www.uni-goettingen.de/en/3240.html?id=7808
1. Suchbegriff
[ ]
(*) Search with Google(tm)
( ) Use Internal Search
(limited result quality)
2. The University
3. Faculties
4. Research
5. Studying
6. Institutions
7. Alumni
8. International
Georg-August-Universitat GottingenGeorg-August-Universitat Gottingen
In publica commoda
Menu
Menu
1. The University
2. Faculties
3. Research
4. Studying
5. Institutions
6. Alumni
7. International
Suchbegriff
[ ]
Suchbegriff
[ ]
(*) Search with Google(tm)
( ) Use Internal Search (limited result Quality).
Suche starten
By using the Google(tm) Search you agree to Google's privacy policy
Looking for people, classes or lecturing halls ?
To eCampus
Close
1. Homepage
2. Information for the Media
Search Deutsch
Press release: Tapping into the World's largest gold reserves
No. 85 - 22.05.2025
Ultra-high precision analyses of volcanic rocks show Earth's core is
leaking into rocks above
Earth's largest gold reserves are not kept inside Fort Knox, the
United States Bullion Depository. In fact, they are hidden much
deeper in the ground than one would expect. More than 99.999% of
Earth's stores of gold and other precious metals lie buried under
3,000 km of solid rock, locked away within the Earth's metallic core
and far beyond the reaches of humankind. Now, researchers from the
University of Gottingen have found traces of the precious metal
Ruthenium (Ru) in volcanic rocks on the islands of Hawaii that must
ultimately have come from the Earth's core. The findings were
published in Nature.
Compared to the Earth's rocky mantle, the metallic core contains a
slightly higher abundance of a particular Ru isotope: ^100Ru. This is
because part of the Ru, which was locked in the Earth's core together
with gold and other precious metals when it formed 4.5 billion years
ago, came from a different source than the scarce amount of Ru that
is contained in the mantle today. These differences in ^100Ru are so
tiny that it was impossible to detect them in the past. Now, new
procedures developed by researchers at the University of Gottingen
made it possible to resolve them. The unusually high ^100Ru signal
they found in lavas on the Earth's surface can only mean that these
rocks ultimately originated from the core-mantle boundary.
Dr Nils Messling, at Gottingen University's Department of
Geochemistry, explains: "When the first results came in, we realised
that we had literally struck gold! Our data confirmed that material
from the core, including gold and other precious metals, is leaking
into the Earth's mantle above."
Professor Matthias Willbold, at the same department, adds: "Our
findings not only show that the Earth's core is not as isolated as
previously assumed. We can now also prove that huge volumes of
super-heated mantle material - several hundreds of quadrillion metric
tonnes of rock - originate at the core-mantle boundary and rise to
the Earth's surface to form ocean islands like Hawaii."
This means that at least some of the precarious supplies of gold and
other precious metals that we rely on for their value and importance
in so many sectors such as renewable energy, may have come from the
Earth's core. Messling concludes: "Whether these processes that we
observe today have also been operating in the past remains to be
proven. Our findings open up an entirely new perspective on the
evolution of the inner dynamics of our home planet."
Original publication: Messling N et al. "Ru and W isotope systematics
in ocean island basalts reveals core leakage", Nature 2025. DOI:
10.1038/s41586-025-09003-0.
Contact:
Professor Matthias Willbold
University of Gottingen
Department of Geochemistry and Isotope Geology
37077 Gottingen, Germany
Email: matthias.willbold@uni-goettingen.de
www.uni-goettingen.de/en/77365.html
Gold is not as rare one might think. The problem is that 99.999% of
Earth's stores of the gold and other precious metals are locked away
in the Earth's core, around 3,000 km inside the Earth and thus far
beyond the reaches of humankind.
Gold is not as rare one might think. The problem is that 99.999% of
Earth's stores of the gold and other precious metals are locked away
in the Earth's core, around 3,000 km inside the Earth and thus far
beyond the reaches of humankind.
Photo: Wikipedia/Slav4|Ariel Palmon
Click here to download Researchers from Gottingen found tiny traces
of the precious metal Ruthenium with an anomalous isotopic
composition in lavas from Hawaii. The new findings prove that the
Earth's core is leaking metallic material, including gold and other
precious metals.
Researchers from Gottingen found tiny traces of the precious metal
Ruthenium with an anomalous isotopic composition in lavas from
Hawaii. The new findings prove that the Earth's core is leaking
metallic material, including gold and other precious metals.
Photo: United States Geological Survey (M. Patrick)
Click here to download Graphic representation of Earth's shell
structure showing the super-heated metallic inner core in the centre,
followed by the solid outer core, the rocky mantle and the thin crust
towards the surface. New research from the University of Gottingen
demonstrates that some precious metal-rich material from the core is
leaking into the Earth's mantle above.
Graphic representation of Earth's shell structure showing the
super-heated metallic inner core in the centre, followed by the solid
outer core, the rocky mantle and the thin crust towards the surface.
New research from the University of Gottingen demonstrates that some
precious metal-rich material from the core is leaking into the
Earth's mantle above.
Photo: University of Gottingen (OpenAI)
Click here to download
Contacts
Georg-August-Universitat Gottingen
Wilhelmsplatz 1 (Aula)
37073 Gottingen
Tel. 0551 39-0
Social Media
*
*
*
*
*
*
Online Services
* Study programmes (eCampus)
* Organisation (eCampus)
* Examination management (FlexNow)
* Learning Management System (Stud.IP)
* Studierendenportal (eCampus)
* Chat AI (Acadmic Cloud)
* Job announcements
* Jobportal Stellenwerk
Service
1. Data Privacy Statement
2. Contact
3. Important phone numbers
4. Intranet
5. Campus Map
6. Site Info
Use of cookies
We use cookies to collect visitor statistics. The collected data is
anonymized and will not be shared with third parties.
For more information on cookies, please see our [INS:privacy policy
:INS].
Accept Only accept necessary cookies