About Gold Few substances have been more avidly sort after through the ages than gold, a symbol of value, it has been the lure for a great many explorations and adventures, the prize to thieves and conquerors and even today plays a vital role in the world economy and is finding increasing use in technology.
Gold is a chemical element, it is a heavy, soft metal.
Volume for volume it weighs almost twice as much as lead. It is the most malleable of all metals, a single ounce could be drawn into a wire more than 40 miles long, or it could be beaten into gold leaf as thin as 4 millionths of an inch. It is an excellent conductor of electricity, although inferior to copper and silver in this respect, and it mixes or alloys easily with other metals. It is usually hardened by alloying with other metals, often gold occurs in nature as an alloy, and the gold content of these alloys is stated in 'carats'. Its principle use throughout the ages has been as a unit of value, and even today the measure of a nations wealth is often based upon the value of its gold reserves.