Journey Gold

The story of gold, the first metal known to mankind, is fascinating. The story of gold, the first metal known to mankind, is fascinating. The story begins when it emerges as an unprocessed ore from the goldmine and ends as it is transformed into a pure, valuable metal with intrinsic value and cultural significance. But, this end is a beginning of yet another exciting story of sheer glamour, glitz, grandeur and glory associated with gold.

Interesting process There are four steps in this journey - mining, extraction and refining, manufacturing and retailing. The gold mines are of two types. In Open Pit Mines large deposits of gold are mined near the surface. In Underground Mines, the gold is located deep down. During mining the unprocessed ore is crushed. Then it is made water soluble, after which it is purified by smelting in a furnace at over 1,000 C. This separates the gold from impurities such as zinc, copper and iron. The molten gold is allowed to cool. This up to 92% pure gold is send to refineries where the remaining impurities are removed to create gold of 99.5% purity. Creating gold of 99.99% purity is a complex process.