• Gold is one of the world's most precious metals, said to be so rare that the world pours more steel in an hour than it has poured gold since time began.
• It is estimated that only 88,000 tons of gold have been taken from the earth, leaving far more yet to be discovered.
• A gold nugget can be worth three to four times the value of the gold it contains because they are so rare.
• Gold is so heavy that one cubic foot of it weighs half a ton.
• Gold can be hammered so thin that sunlight can shine through it.
• A single ounce of gold can be drawn into an amazing wire 60 miles long.
• In every cubic mile of sea water there is 25 tons of gold! That's a total of about 10 billion tons of gold in the oceans. However, there's no known way to economically recover it.
• Gold is so soft it is seldom used in its pure form. The hardness of pure gold (on moh's scale) is 2.5 to 3. The melting point is 2,063 degrees Fahrenheit, specific gravity is 19.32, and tensile strength is 19,000psi.
• Two thirds of the world's supply of gold comes from South Africa. US sources include South Dakota and Nevada. The UK has a small amount in Wales.
• Gold is chemically liquified and injected into the muscles of thousands of rheumatoid arthritis victims in the and it is said that the treatment is successful in seven out of ten cases.
• Gold is used in window glass and astronaut helmets to reflect infrared rays while allowing sunlight to pass through.
• Gold won't tarnish, rust, or corrode and is very strong when alloyed. In fact, it is also surprisingly the most malleable of all metals.
