Pure silver would be too soft for jewelry and utensils so it is usually alloyed with at least one other metal. Silver can be found in high concentrations as argentite, Ag 2 S, but most is recovered in the refining processes of other metals such as copper. Most compounds of silver are light sensitive and a lot of silver bromide and silver chloride are used by the photographic industry. On average, a million tons of earth contain just ten pounds of gold. This scarcity, as well as its beauty and chemical properties account for its high value from ancient times.
Gold metal has a distinctive yellow color and is incredibly malleable and ductile.
Pure gold is easily cut with a knife. Few elements react with gold under normal conditions and so most gold is recovered as small flakes of the pure element. Gold is a very good conductor and is often used to plate electrical contacts since it resists corrosion so well. More background information on Au More data on Au Uuu no images of Unununium available Announcement of the discovery of element 111 was made in the popular press in January of 1995. Reports from the GSI labs in Germany indicate that nickel ions were used to bombard a bismuth target.