Russian gold miners in the Far Eastern region of Magadan have extracted more gold than some countries' entire bullion reserves. They’ve mined over 40 tons of the precious metal since the beginning of 2019.

While there is still time before the end of the year, the figure can exceed 50 tons, the authorities of the rich gold-mining region said on Tuesday.

As of November 1, the gold miners had unearthed 40.23 tons of the commodity, a record amount in 40 years and seven tons more than at the same period last year. At the same time, nearly 560 tons of silver were mined in Magadan.

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Gold prices have been rising this year and one kilogram of the precious metal was worth more than $47,200 as of Friday. Based on that price, a 40-ton pile of the yellow metal is worth a hefty $1.9 billion.

Some countries have less gold in their coffers than the Far Eastern Russian region mines in a year. For example, Serbia has recently added nine tons of gold to its holdings, to bring them to the total of 30.4 tons. Some EU countries, such as Ireland and Estonia, have even smaller bullion reserves.

The Magadan region and nearby territories are the champions of Russia’s gold-mining industry. Last year some 37 tons of the yellow metal were extracted from local deposits. The Natalka mine, located 400 km from Magadan, is one of Russia’s largest and the 15th largest gold asset globally by reserves. A nearby mine called Pavlik has around 100 tons of proven bullion reserves.

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