What is the name of the largest gold deposit in the world?

The largest known gold deposit in the world is the Witwatersrand Basin in South Africa.

The basin is a vast, largely underground geological formation whose gold is concentrated in ancient conglomerate layers known as reefs or banket. These rocks formed from sediments deposited by rivers and deltas during the Archean Eon, roughly 3 billion years ago.

Gold was discovered at Langlaagte near Johannesburg in 1886, triggering the Witwatersrand Gold Rush and the rapid growth of Johannesburg. More than 40,000 tonnes of gold have been mined from the basin, representing about 22% of all the gold estimated to have been brought above Earth’s surface.

The wording can cause confusion because “largest gold deposit” is not the same as “largest gold mine” or “largest open-pit mine.” Muruntau, Grasberg, and the Carlin Trend are major gold-producing districts or operations, but the Witwatersrand Basin is the canonical answer for the world’s largest known gold-bearing deposit or reserve system.