Fun Gold Facts - Just how Big is One Tonne of Gold?

President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela recently said he will be brining all Venezuelan gold held in foreign banks back to Venezuela. That amounts to around 200 tonnes of gold. But how much, exactly is that?

Gold is traditionally weighed in Troy Ounces (31.1035 grams). With the density of gold at 19.32 g/cm3, a troy ounce of gold would have a volume of 1.64 cm3. A tonne of gold would therefore have a volume of 51,760 cm3. This is the equivalent to a cube with sides of 37.27cm (Approx. 1' 3'').

200 tonnes of gold has a volume of 10,352,000cm3. This is the equivalent to a cube with sides of 217.94cm (Approx. 7' 2").

The total amount of gold ever mined as of 2001 was 145,000 tonnes. Given an average of 2,000 new tonnes of gold mined per year since then, that's about 155,000 total tonnes of gold in existence today. That amounts to 8,022,800,000 cm3. This is the equivalent to a cube with the sides of 2002cm (Approximately 65' 8").