Gold and other precious metals are leaking from Earth’s core into the layers above, eventually making their way up to the surface during the formation of volcanic islands like Hawaii, a new study suggests.

The theory results from a three-year analysis of Hawaii’s basaltic rocks, which originally formed from plumes of magma, or molten rock, rising from the ocean floor. Clues in the form of heavy metals found in the volcanic rocks could confirm a suspicion long held by geologists — that Earth’s molten core is not isolated but likely bleeds into the rocky mantle, the layer between the planet’s thin crust and the core.

“About 40 years ago, people first came up with the theory that maybe the core is losing some material into the mantle, but the signals we got so far were really ambiguous,” sa

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