The major gold producers increased their reported reserves to 838.4 million oz or over 26,000 tonnes at the end of 2008, according to Metals Economics Group. Assuming a 10% recovery loss when the ore is extracted, this would amount to 14 years of gold production at 2005's level. In practice the amount of known resources remains fairly constant over time since the results of new exploration finds replace those resources that are exploited.
