I think it also makes a difference how it's refined, apparently backyard refiners can only extract 5% of what a sophisticated system can.
not just gold but all the other elements.
there's just not enough of these high end machines I think out there yet, so it's understandable that those that do have the technology are making the most of it.

watching some videos on people sending away chips & fingers to refiners and getting a tiny blob of gold in return makes me wonder what happened to the platinum, the silver and god know's what.