Study finds that Earth's core is 'leaking' gold

Researchers have found evidence that Earth's core is leaking gold and other precious metals, according to a new study. The vast majority (99.9 per cent) of Earth's gold and other precious metals are hidden in the centre of our planet, with thousands of miles of near-impenetrable rock between us and these natural treasures. However, while humans are unlikely to ever mine Earth's core, new research indicates that some metals have migrated out of the core into enriched rocks that eventually ended up at the surface.

- WORDS PATRICK PESTER

While investigating volcanic rocks in Hawaii, a team of scientists identified signs of the precious metal ruthenium, a platinum group metal, that they conclude could only have come from the core-mantle boundary, more than 1,800 miles below the surface. "When the first results came in, we realised that we had literally struck gold!" said Nils Messling, a researcher in the geochemistry department at Göttingen University in Germany. "Our data confirmed that material from the core, including gold and other precious metals, is leaking into the Earth's mantle above."