El Salvador "lives" on trillions of gold dollars, the president: Reserves exceed 8000 percent of GDP

The President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, addressed the citizens in a meeting and repeated the claims that this Central American country "lies" on gold, which is a great potential that has not yet been exploited.

Speaking to the crowd, Bukele said that El Salvador is aware that nature must be protected, but that some processes can take place without the need to destroy nature.

"We are the only country that bans excavation and mining. Not even Honduras, Guatemala, the USA, Europe are full of mines. We would like to have parts of the country that look like Qatar. How do you think Qatar got there? They are in the desert", said Bukele, alluding to how the resources should be used.

He also told the citizens that mining will not affect their lives, "I know we have to develop the country. Mining is less than 1 percent of the territory. They are not near our houses. This will not bother anyone."

We cannot continue being the only country in the world that does not take advantage of natural resources.

We cannot continue being the only country in the world that does not utilize its natural resources. pic.twitter.com/NiOcyW9INQ

- Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) December 3, 2024

He then talked about the gold reserves that El Salvador potentially possesses.

"The potential gold reserves that El Salvador has are estimated at three trillion dollars. This is more than 8000 percent of GDP. This is only gold. According to the first studies, we also found minerals for the fourth industrial revolution. These are cobalt, nickel, lithium," he said.

A few days ago, Nayib Bukele published a map showing potential gold deposits.

El Salvador is located in one of the richest sectors with mineral resources thanks to volcanic activity.

Studies conducted in just 4 percent of the potential area have identified 50 million ounces of gold, which today is valued at US$131 billion, equivalent to 380 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). /Telegraph/