What is the chemical symbol and atomic number of gold?
Gold has the chemical symbol Au and the atomic number 79. This dense, yellow metal is the only element that exists in nature as a solid, pure element.
Common questions about Gold
Short answers, pulled from the story.
How was gold formed and delivered to Earth?
Gold was forged in the violent collisions of neutron stars and the explosive flares of magnetars billions of years before Earth existed. It was delivered to the planet's crust by asteroid impacts during the Late Heavy Bombardment approximately 4 billion years ago.
When did the Witwatersrand Gold Rush begin and what percentage of gold does it account for?
The Witwatersrand Gold Rush began in 1886 following the geological anomaly created by the Vredefort crater event 2.020 billion years ago. This region accounts for 22% of all the gold ascertained to exist today.
What was the highest and lowest recorded price of gold per troy ounce?
The price of gold reached a high of $850 per troy ounce on the 21st of January 1980 and a low of $252.90 per troy ounce on the 21st of June 1999. It later hit a new all-time high of $1,913.50 on the 23rd of August 2011.
How much gold exists above ground and which country produces the most?
There are around 201,296 tonnes of gold existing above ground today. China is the world's largest gold producer, followed by Russia and Australia.
What are the environmental costs of gold mining and how much energy does it require?
Gold production is associated with hazardous pollution from sodium cyanide and mercury, causing environmental disasters and heavy metal contamination. The industry requires nearly 25 kilowatt-hours of electricity per gram of gold produced and generates 16 tonnes of carbon dioxide for every kilogram mined.