6 INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT GOLD
The human has always been fascinated by gold. We have mined it out of the ground, searched for it in historic gold rushes and shaped beautiful jewellery that adorned our hands when we got married or when we crowned our rulers. Since the beginning of civilizations, gold has been associated with power, honor and prosperity, which has been confirmed by historical excavations and discoveries.
The use of gold
Gold is an element (AU) and one of the precious metals.
Most of all gold produced today is used for jewellery. A significant part is also used in dentistry and in the electronics industry.
Since this precious metal does not rust or weather, it has proven to be a successful way to store value and wealth.
Properties of gold
The malleability of gold is the greatest of all metals we know. One gram of gold can be drawn out into a 3,000 meter long wire with a diameter of only 0.00012 mm. In addition, gold also has a unique ability to conduct electrical current, making it a popular metal in electrical components.
What does carat mean?
The gold content is measured in carats or in fineness. Pure gold is the same as 24 carat or 1,000 fine and it has a clear yellow color. Pure gold is very soft and thus impractical for everyday purposes. To make the gold more useful and durable, it is alloyed with other metals e.g. copper. If the alloy contains 75% gold, the gold content will be 18 carats or 750 fine. If the alloy holds 58.5% gold, the gold content will be 14 carats or 585 fine. The composition of the alloy also affects the color. The white color of white gold usually results from the alloying of gold with nickel, platinum or palladium.
What effect the price of gold?
The value of gold is determined every day on the major metal exchanges in London, Tokyo and New York and is calculated in US dollars / troy ounces. A troy ounce is 31.1 grams. The gold price is affected by several factors such as the dollar exchange rate and interest rates etc. Owning gold has long been considered a safe haven in times of economic and political crises.
The world's largest gold nugget
On October 19, 1872, a 214.3 kilo gold nugget was found in Hill End, Australia. It is the largest nugget of gold ever found. The gold nugget "Holtermann Nugget" was blasted with quartz so that its total weight was 285.5 kilos.
How much gold is there in the world?
Our planet contains about 21,000,000,000,000,000 tons of gold. The earth's crust, down to a depth of about 36 km, contains no less than 84,000,000,000,000 tonnes of gold.
Currently, about 180,000 metric tons of gold are in circulation. This is "everything" that has been mined and washed out. This corresponds to a gold cube with 20 meter sides. (20 X 20 X 20 m.)
