(MARKETWATCH) — In another two decades, rare commodities may become seriously scarce.
According to Goldman Sachs, the world has about 20 years’ worth each of known minable reserves of gold GCJ5, +0.21% diamonds and zinc. Platinum PLJ5, +2.02% copper HGK5, -0.83% and nickel reserves only have about 40 years or less left.
“The combination of very low concentrations of metals in the Earth’s crust, and very few high-quality deposits, means some things are truly scarce,” Eugene King, European metals and mining analyst at Goldman Sachs, wrote in a recent research note.
“Gold has been used as a measure of wealth for more than 4,000 years, as the ancient Egyptians soon worked out that gold was not only shiny and heavy, but rare,” he said.