Gold has long been seen as a wealth of man, and since that discovery, we have been seduced by its clear and traditionally pleasing yellow color. Since ancient times, we have also used this metal in different ways, not only as decoration but also as pure payment for goods and services of various kinds, and even today in our modern world it is traded with gold!
But there are many who do not know much about this beautiful wealth really but only see it as a material for engagement rings and necklaces, but the gold is much more than that.
What is gold?
Gold is an element and part of the precious metals group. The Latin name for gold is aurum which means dawn. After the Latin name comes the chemical name, which is Au. The fact that the gold was given the Latin name it received was probably due to its color, as it can be compared to the tone of the sky at sunrise.
Where’s the gold?
Gold is found in both bedrock, underground veins and alluvial soils, often in the form of grains and lumps. But of course, gold is what many people probably also heard, like sink gold in water. The metal is in its pure form beautifully shiny and yellow, compact, soft. But gold, despite its incredible softness and lightness, is the most durable metal of all.
The history of gold
The history of gold is the basis for the importance we place in gold today. Gold is said to be the first metal that man learned to work with, by merging small grains and lumps into larger gold nuggets. It is thus difficult to determine exactly when gold first existed, but the first known description of gold dates from 2600 BC. and takes place in Egypt. More specifically, however, we can phase out the use of the metal during some of the later centuries.
During antiquity and until the fall of the Roman Empire, gold production is believed to have been up to 10,000 tonnes of gold. The following centuries saw a gradual increase in production with a start of 5 tonnes per year at 1500 and 15 tonnes per year at 1800.
Production, or the production of gold, declined during the 18th century in Europe and world production was only 10 tonnes per year. People applied for eg. Brazil and Mexico to promote this product. In principle, production went down to a minimum, until some discoveries occurred during the 19th century. Production then increased again. During the latter part of the 20th century, production continued to be high and the increased demand for gold and the higher price meant that the work in the gold mines did not decrease. However, the increased revenues from gold sales led to more money being invested in the mines.
