Amazing Facts About Gold

Amazing Facts About Gold:
Gold is a dense, soft, malleable, ductile, yellowish, shiny metal with the symbol Au (Au is the first two letters of the Latin word ‘Aurum’ which means ‘gold’) and atomic number 79. Since the beginning of human history, it has been a highly sought precious metal for coinage, jewellery, and other arts. Generally gold occurs as nuggets or grains in rocks, veins and alluvial deposits. Gold has served as a symbol of wealth and as a store of value throughout human history. Gold standards have provided a basis for monetary policies. It also has been linked to a variety of symbolisms and ideologies.

As of 2009, a total of 165,000 tonnes (one tonne = 1000 kg) of gold have been mined in human history. This is approximately equivalent to a cube of side 20.4 m (volume 8,500 m³) . About 50% of new gold produced is used in jewelry, 40% in investments and 10% in industry.
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