A recent study published in Nature has revealed that the Earth’s core contains vast amounts of gold and other precious metals. Researchers from the University of Göttingen found evidence of a rare metal, ruthenium, in volcanic rocks on the islands of Hawaii, which suggests that these rocks originated from the Earth’s core.
The findings indicate that the metallic core is not as isolated as previously thought and that material from the core, including gold and other precious metals, is leaking into the Earth’s mantle above. This process allows for the formation of oceanic crust, such as volcanic islands like Hawaii.
While the discovery does not confirm the existence of a large storehouse of gold within Fort Knox or elsewhere on land, it suggests that some of the world’s most valuable precious metals may have originated from the Earth’s core. The study’s authors propose that these processes could have been operating in the past and offer new insights into the evolution of the Earth’s inner dynamics.
The researchers’ discovery was made possible by new procedures developed at the University of Göttingen, which allow for the detection of tiny differences in ruthenium isotopes between the mantle and core.
Source: https://phys.org/news/2025-05-hawaiian-volcanic-reveal-earth-core.html