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Gold- A Girls favorite!
We all know about Gold, especially ladies who are simply crazy about gold jewelery and l am one of them! But what is gold? Gold is a rare metallic element that is found in natural settings. It is the only yellow metal and bears its name from the Old English word for yellow, or 'geolu'. In the Periodic Table of Elements, gold is classified as a transitional metal. Gold, as a precious metal, has been valued and held in high esteem since ancient times and is still one of the most highly prized metals that has, throughout the ages, been used to symbolize wealth and power.
Usage of Gold:
- Easily shaped, carved, melted, chiseled or hammered, gold is one of the softest, densest, metals that exist.
- Gold is alloyed with other minerals like silver and platinum to make it stronger and more durable as it is very soft.
- Gold is flexible, durable and not easily affected by moisture, normal heat, air, or everyday wear and tear. This is the reason it is used by Jewelers and other artisans.
- Gold is a very good conductor of electricity and heat, so it is widely used for industrial purposes and manufacturing applications.
- Gold is soft and can be easily shaped. Because of this property gold is extensively used as dentures and dental fillings.
- It has a high resistance to corrosion, so it is used in sensitive instruments and other mechanical devices.
- Gold is also used in biological and medical research and photographic imaging.
Formation of Gold
The most common natural method of concentration of gold is through the ancient action of hot fluid inside the Earth's crust. Fluids deep in the crust are heated by the Earth's internal heat. As they move towards the surface they cool down. The fluids moved through the rocks over a large area and "dissolved" the gold. When these fluids cooled or reacted with other rocks the dissolved gold precipitated (came out of the fluid) in cracks or fractures forming veins. If the fluids move over a large enough area, and dissolve the gold for a long enough period of time, gold can be concentrated in amounts in the parts per thousand or even greater. These are known as primary gold deposits and to extract the gold the rock containing the veins of gold has to be dug up (mined), crushed and processed. 
Mining:
- After finding indications of gold, drill rigs are used to obtain samples from below the surface. These samples are analyzed for their gold content. If there is enough gold in the deposit to be produced economically, a mine is permitted and developed.
- The ore is mined in four steps: drilling, blasting, loading and hauling.
- Drilling: In the case of a surface mine, a pattern of holes is drilled in the pit and filled with explosives.
- Blasting: The explosives are detonated in order to break up the ground so it can be loaded by large shovels or front-end loaders into haul trucks.
- Loading: Some ore bodies are more economically mined using underground methods. In this case, a tunnel called an adit or a shaft, is dug into the earth. Sort tunnels leading from the adit or shaft, called stopes, are dug to access the ore. The surface containing the ore, called a face, is drilled and loaded with explosives. Following blasting, the broken ore is loaded into trucks and taken to the surface. Once mining is completed in a particular stope, it is backfilled with a cement compound.
- Hauling: The haul trucks transport the ore to various areas for processing. The grade and type of ore determine the processing method used. Higher-grade ores are taken to a mill. Lower grade ores are taken to leach pads. Some ores may be stockpiled for later processing.
Gold is used extensively in coinage of course, as well as industrial, decorative, dental and gold jewellery.As mentioned by goldprice.org, how it is used will usually determine the carat or amount of gold in proportion to other metals. The higher the carat the purer the gold, it's that simple! Gold is usually alloyed with other metals such as silver, copper to increase its hardness and durability.
The composition gold is seen by using the 'carat system' (spelt Karat in the). Also for hallmarking purposes gold is expressed in parts per thousand the other parts being another metal such as silver or copper.
So, 24 carat is pure gold with nothing added. This is the purest gold available. The alloys used vary with the purpose to which the gold is put. For jewellery and dental work usually the combination is gold, silver and copper. Sometimes with the addition of zinc or nickel. For dental alloys, palladium and platinum are usually added as they are particularly stronger and hard wearing. 18 carat gold is more popular for gold jewelry with a 75 percent gold and 25 percent other metals ratio, usually silver or copper or a mixture of both.
So to produce that beautiful bangle you wear or those precious earrings is no easy task! Gold's many unique properties have secured it a central role in history and human development. Gold is probably the earliest known metal because it has been found in tombs and among artifacts dating back to the earliest known civilizations. It is the only metal which had not lost its charm and usefulness and has held its place since as the most valuable metal. Gold was considered as an excellent form of investment even in the past and even now. The value of gold in terms of percentage and value have risen to an unprecedented amount within a short span and it is considered to be best and recommended form of investment by the experts.
(Sources: newmont.com, moneymatters101.com, goldelement.info, australianminesatlas.gov.au)
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