What is Gold? Hey Engineering Lovers, my name is Igor Felipe and today we are going to talk about a metal that has attracted the attention of our society for a long time, gold. A dense yet soft yellow element and with a symbol Au and atomic number 79 on our periodic table, gold is a valuable metal and has been used as currency, jewelry and as a store of value for thousands of years.
It is a highly prized metal due to its unique physical and chemical properties, including malleability, ductility, and resistance to corrosion and tarnishing. Gold is produced primarily through mining and extraction from ore deposits, and its extraction and processing can be environmentally and economically challenging. As a result of its scarcity, gold has played a significant role in human history, serving as a medium of exchange and store of value for thousands of years.
In addition to its use in jewelry and as a monetary standard, gold has a wide range of industrial applications, including electronics, dentistry and medicine, due to its excellent electrical conductivity, non-reactivity and biocompatibility. The gold market is highly dynamic, influenced by a variety of economic, political and geological factors, and is the subject of continuous research in areas such as geology, economics and finance. Now think of gold as a special type of metal that is rare on our planet, and because of that rarity, it ends up being extremely valuable.
It has been used for centuries by different cultures. People are attracted to gold because it does not tarnish or corrode, which means it can last for a long time. It is also a good conductor of electricity and does not react with many other elements, which is why it is used in electronic devices.
it can only be done in a few places around the world. This is why it is so valuable and has been used as a symbol of wealth and power by many cultures. But where can we find the gold?
Well, gold can be found in many ways. Chief among these are ores, where gold is often mined from gold ore, which is a mixture of minerals that contain the valuable metal. Some of the more common minerals found in gold ore deposits include quartz, pyrite and chalcopyrite.
These minerals, for the most part, are extracted mainly from underground mines, where gold veins and ore deposits are excavated and processed. We can find gold in small amounts also in rivers and streams, where it is found in alluvial deposits, created by erosion and weathering of rocks containing gold. For those who have already played with electronic equipment and a little acid like me, you know that you can also recover gold from electronic waste, such as discarded parts of computers, cell phones and other electronic devices.
But it's up to me, it's a giant job to do this. Gold deposits can be found on every continent, but the biggest gold producing countries are China, Australia, Russia, United States and Canada. And to obtain Gold, in general, the process follows some steps.
The first is to find where there is gold and we call this step exploration. This is done through geological surveys and drilling programs. Once found, we have to develop the mine for its extraction.
This may involve excavating, tunneling and building facilities to process and refine the ore. With the mine created, we have the extraction of the ore itself. The gold ore is then extracted from the mine using methods such as underground mining or open pit mining and this ore is transported to our next step which is its processing.
The mined ore is processed to separate the gold from the other minerals in the ore. This is usually done through a series of steps including crushing, grinding and even chemical extraction. One of the final steps is gold refining, where it is purified and refined to remove any impurities.
This is usually done through a process called smelting, where gold is melted and impurities are separated and removed. Finally, the gold is smelted into bars, rolled into wires and even gold leaf. This gold is then used to produce jewelry, used as a store of value in countries or used in industrial applications.
Of course, the specific methods used in extracting gold can vary depending on the type of deposit, location and economics of the operation, and the process can also involve the use of various chemicals such as cyanide and even mercury. These chemicals can pose environmental risks and companies that use them in their production process need careful management to minimize impacts on both workers and local communities. Another great advantage of gold is that it can be used in its pure form or it can be combined with other materials to form alloys.
If you don't know, an alloy is a mixture of two or more elements, where at least one of those elements must be a metal. By combining gold with other metals, its properties can be changed to make it more suitable for specific applications. Some of the most common gold alloys are yellow gold, which is an alloy of gold, copper and silver, and this is the traditional gold used in jewelry and it ends up looking like a warm yellow color.
We also have white gold, which is an alloy of gold, nickel and zinc or palladium, and has a silvery white color and is also often used in jewelry production. Rose gold, which is an alloy of gold and copper, has a reddish-pink color and is also commonly used in jewelry production. Green gold or electrum is an alloy of gold and silver, and has been used as a bartering material and in the production of coins for thousands of years.
These alloys can be customized to meet specific requirements and can be combined with other materials to form more complex alloys with specific properties. And where is gold used besides jewelry? Gold can serve as a store of value and a hedge against economic and political uncertainty.
In some places like Dubai, there are ATMs where people can withdraw gold bars, this is because it is a very widespread element in society and has little price variation over time. You can trade gold even in funds through the stock exchange. But it's not just the economic part.
As I already said, gold is an excellent conductor of electricity and is used in electronic devices such as smartphones, laptops and televisions. It is also used in dentistry for fillings, crowns and bridges due to its biocompatibility and durability. This is because gold ends up not reacting with our organism like other metals, and therefore, it ends up becoming ideal for this type of use.
For those who haven't seen someone with a gold tooth, it wasn't just used for aesthetics, but due to its biocompatibility. Gold compounds are also used in some medical treatments, such as treating rheumatoid arthritis and even some types of cancer. And where can we use gold in engineering?
In the electronics industry, it is widely used in the production of electronic devices due to its high conductivity, corrosion resistance, and ability to form stable, highly conductive contacts. It is also used in the aerospace industry due to its high corrosion resistance and ability to reflect infrared radiation. Our satellites use gold from radiation protection to sensitive electronic components.
One interesting use is as a catalyst in various chemical reactions due to its ability to facilitate reactions without being consumed in the process. This makes it an important material for use in various industrial processes, including the production of fertilizers, plastics and fuels. It can even be used in the production of glass, where it is used to change the hue of glass such as red, yellow and even green.
But then the question is, why is it so expensive? The first one is, of course, its rarity. Gold is a relatively rare element, and large-scale gold mining is required to extract it from the earth's crust.
Gold's limited supply, combined with increasing demand, contributes to its high cost. Its mining costs are also quite high. Extracting gold from the earth requires expensive mining equipment, operations and processes.
And of course, these costs are passed on to the consumer in the form of higher gold prices. Gold refining also requires specialized equipment and chemicals as I have already discussed with mercury and these costs also contribute to the total cost of gold. And as it is a rare, expensive material that needs a lot of resources for its extraction, transport and security cannot be ruled out.
Gold transport and storage requires protection systems and specialized personnel against theft or loss and of course these costs are reflected in the price of gold. The mining companies themselves have extremely strong security. And of course, the famous law of supply and demand.
When you have a high demand for gold, and you have a limited supply, it ends up driving prices up. It is a fascinating element that awakens desire and status in many people, and it will certainly continue to awaken that desire for a few thousand years. And you?
Did you already know all this about gold? Want to make a gold donation here to the channel? Or maybe you already know about the huge asteroid made of gold that circles our galaxy and that space agencies are dying to get their hands on it.
Leave it here in the comments and I want to know. I'm going to leave two videos on the side that you might like too, so be sure to click on one of them to check it out. This is the moment for you to leave your like, subscribe to the channel and share the video on your social networks.
And that's it my friends, a big hug, and see you in the next video.
