All that metal

From the US Geological Survey


Gold.

Only 187,000 metric tons of gold have been mined since the beginning of time. Another 57,000 metric tons is in known reserves still under the ground. If all the gold ever mined - plus that discovered still unmined - was put into a cube it would measure only 23 metres on each side That means 8 of these cubes would easily fit on one football field!


Silver.

1,740,000 tons have been discovered so far - mined and in reserve. This means just 4 cubes of all the silver known could fit on a football field!


Copper

700 million tons has been mined and that in a cube would cover 32 football fields. If all the reserves known were mined and added to the cube it would mean another 2.8 billion tons covering a total of 98 football fields


Lead

224 million tons have been mined. There are known reserves of 96 million tons. The reserves alone would make a cube 2km long.


Iron

Usable pure iron (as a part of cast iron, steel, alloys etc) ever produced is 2.6 Billion tons. There are 180 Billion tons of known reserves so running out is highly unlikely. Australia has 30% of the world total.




At today's level of consumption, the average newborn infant will need a lifetime supply of: 871 pounds of lead 502 pounds of zinc 950 pounds of copper 2,692 pounds of aluminum 21,645 pounds of iron ore
11,614 pounds of clays 30,091 pounds of salt 1,420,000 pounds of stone, sand, gravel, and cement Learn more: Mineral Resources: Out of the ground...into our daily lives

• Iron Ore: Australia produces 38% of the world's iron ore. 
• Lithium: Australia is the world's largest producer of lithium, accounting for 41% of global production. 
• Nickel: Australia has the world's largest resources of nickel, contributing 7% of global production. 
• Gold, Lead, Rutile, Uranium, Zinc, and Zircon: Australia hosts the world's largest economic resources of these minerals. 
• Other Minerals: Australia also has significant resources of bauxite, black coal, and brown coal, among others,  according to Geoscience Australia . 

Why are we not rich?
 

Probably because a lot of our valuable resources are mined by Company's that pay little or not tax.

If we taxed these resources at (say) 5% the Politicians could squander way more than they do now.

Lang I think we are rich, richer than ever before
Our expectations are higher than ever before
We travel further and faster than ever before
We have holidays today that only a few decades ago the wealthy could only afford
We have free medical
Free education
A highway system that spans a mostly unpopulated landscape
We have clean drinking water
We have a never ending supply of fresh food

I guess I still feel we are the lucky country, it all depends on what we use as a stick to measure us against
It wasn't that long ago people worked all their life and retired for only 2 or 3 years and passed away

Most of us will expect at least 10 years of good health in retirement

Paul

You are right Paul, my comment was tongue in cheek.

I think Australia has hovered between first and fifth in the world for 80 years as the richest country per capita GDP but in the last few years we have slid back to 16th. A great deal of this has to do with excessive spending and debt accumulation by successive governments. We are not alone in this and the majority of countries pay interest on vast sums. Nothing new, the Romans went bankrupt paying for games to keep the masses happy. Did somebody mention Brisbane Olympics, net zero, runaway public service, the Aboriginal industry, a million miles of bike tracks beside potholed roads and ................not enough space on the forum for the full list?