Our oceans contain around 20
million tons of dissolved gold.
However, this means that there
is only about one gram of gold
for every 110 million
tons of ocean water.
Many gold deposits exist deep
within the seafloor,
and some deposits can often be
trapped underneath rock
as far down as 35,000 feet!
Currently, the process of
extracting gold from our ocean's
is an unprofitable venture, due
to technological limitations.
However, many inventors have
attempted to perfect the process
of separating gold from water.
In the 1890's, pastor
Ford Jernegan came up with the
idea for extracting gold from
the ocean water
surrounding New York.
He created the
Electrolytic Marine Salts
Company, and raised enough money
to build a proper factory,
which would utilize electricity
treatment's and mercury to
extract gold from ocean water.
Unfortunately, the plan was
unsuccessful, and by 1898
many investors had become
skeptical and began asking
questions about
the effectiveness
of Jernegan's plan.
Shortly after, Jernegan
disappeared with the money
from the company.
Jernegan's unsuccessful
business reflects the extreme
challenge of economically
extracting gold from water.
Despite the sheer amount of
gold in and beneath our oceans,
the majority of it
remains inaccessible.
Call the number on your screen
or click the link below if
you'd like to learn more about
gold's place in our world,
and gold's place in
your portfolio.
