12 amazing facts about gold you probably didn't know

SUMMARY

Gold has remained one of the most prolific metals that humans use every day. It has been used for coinage, jewellery and other arts throughout human civilisation. The yellow metal at one point was the basis of our modern cash system. But there is more to gold than just glitter. Here are 12 surprising facts about the precious metal that you probably didn’t know about.

By CNBCTV18.comJul 24, 2021 9:31:59 AM IST (Updated)

1 | Gold is alien | Nearly all the gold found in the world today didn't originate on Earth. Instead, the gold we know today came from meteorites that bombarded Earth 200 million years after the planet formed.

2 | Gold is extremely malleable and ductile | 28.3 grams of gold can be beaten into a thread 8 km long, or can be hammered into a 100 sq feet sheet.

3 | Gold is inside us | On average a human weighing 70 kg will have over 0.2 mg of gold inside them. Trace amounts of gold are found near the heart and in nail beds.

4 | You can eat gold | You can safely eat gold in the form of gold leaf or glitter. Pure gold isn’t toxic and passes straight through your digestive system.

5 | Gold is virtually indestructible | Gold is a noble metal and doesn’t react easily. Gold doesn’t rust, oxidise or even react to most acids. Most of the gold mined still exists as of today.

6 | Earthquakes can create gold | Scientists have discovered that water inside faultlines vaporises during earthquakes, creating gold crystals embedded with quartz.

7 | Gold is not the most expensive metal | The most expensive metal found on Earth are palladium and rhodium. Both metals are much more expensive than gold.

8 | Gold is rare | Only 50,000 tonnes below-ground reserves of gold remain in the world. In comparison, around 190,000 tonnes of gold has already been mined.

9 | Gold is everywhere | Although gold is rare and expensive, because of its properties it is present in most electronics. Computers, televisions, cameras, radios and media players all contain gold.

10 | Gold is old | The oldest gold artefacts were found in modern-day Bulgaria, from 4,500 BC and 4,000 BC. That makes those artefacts over 6,000 years old.

11 | Who produces the most gold | China is currently the world’s biggest producer of gold, with nearly 370 tonnes of annual production. It's a good thing as China is also the largest consumer of gold.

12 | Oceans should be glittering | Ocean waters are full of gold. There is about 20 million tonnes of the precious metal, worth around $771 trillion, in oceans. But gold in the ocean is so dilute that it cannot be extracted.