Everything Golden

Gold has been prized throughout the history of mankind. Gold has been used as the basis of currency, made into coins, and, due to its appearance and ease of working been used as decoration on armor, clothes and everyday objects.  Gold's natural resistance to corrosion means that it does not tarnish or discolor with time, which has an added benefit -  the metal's properties can be relied over time. Although jewelry remains the major use for gold, its unique chemical and physical properties makes it attractive for many other uses Gold can be found in:

• Electronics
  • As a plating for connectors in high quality audio cables.
  • As the conductor in microwave circuits.
• Spacecraft and Satellites       
  • Cosmic ray protection.
  • As a coating for thermal blankets.
  • As an exterior plating for electronics units to prevent oxidation.
• telephones, telescopes and photocopiers
• thermometers
• night-sights and security cameras
• lasers
• dentistry, eye surgery, treatment for arthritis
• aircraft engines and windows
• heat reflecting face visors

How is Gold Formed?


Deposits of gold can form in many geological environments: in deep magma chambers, in ancient volcanoes or hot springs, or in conglomerates and sandstones that might form as a result of the weathering and erosion of these gold-bearing rocks. 
 
However, one of the most common places that gold deposits form is in ancient fault zones, many of which were active during the earliest period of Earth's history, the Achaean (more than 2.5 billion years ago). Earthquakes produced by movements on these giant faults would have been accompanied by the release of hydrothermal solutions from deep in the Earth's crust. These solutions moved up along the faults and, often as a result of effervescence of carbon dioxide gas (rather like opening a bottle of fizzy drink), precipitated gold in economic concentrations in veins of quartz.

Where is Gold Found?

If you are really luck, you can find a gold nugget laying on the ground by your foot, particularly if you are standing in a stream that has washed gold from its source.  This was the old way of panning for gold in America in the 1800's.

Gold in Jewelry

Because of the softness of pure gold (pure gold is graded as 24k), it is usually alloyed with other base metals for use in jewelry increasing its hardness. The choice of the alloy metal changes the carat description and also changes the color of the gold.  The most common caratage values for gold used in jewelry are typically 22k, 18k, 14k or 10k. The smaller the caratage value means the alloy contains a higher percentages of copper, silver or other base metals.

Copper is the most common base metal that is mixed with pure gold, although silver, and iron are also sometimes used. White gold alloys can be made with palladium, silver or nickel.