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Fascinating Facts about Gold







Africa's gold deposits were formed some 3,4 billion years ago.
An estimated 10 billion tons of gold is suspended in the seas of the world.
Each mine's gold has its own DNA, so the exact origins of, say, a piece of jewellery made from
'virgin gold' (or gold unblended with gold from another source) could be ascertained.
The deepest mine in the world is Western Deep Levels gold mine on the Far West Rand, now
approaching a depth of 4 kilometres. (approx. 13000 feet). Mining does not as yet take place at
that depth.
The total volume of rock cut away each year in South Africa's gold mines would make a railway
tunnel 3500 kilometres (approx. 2200 miles) long reaching between London and Leningrad.
For every ton of rock mined, nearly 15 tons of ventilation air is pumped underground.
The volume of water pumped daily from the mines would fill 3 million domestic bath tubs to the
brim.
Cooling plants on South African gold mines have a capacity equal to nearly 3.5 million domestic
refrigerators.
Virgin rock temperatures higher than 52?C (126?F) have been recorded in South African gold
mines.
The South African gold mining industry consumes enough electricity - over 23 million megawatt
hours - to power a city with 3 million inhabitants.
It is estimated that the portion of mineworkers' earnings remitted to Lesotho account for some 60
per cent of that country's Gross Domestic Product.
Gold can be beaten wafer thin - technically that's 0.00001mm thick. One ounce of gold can be
beaten into 16 square metres/yards of gold leaf.
One ounce can be drawn into eight kilometres (five miles) of gold wire.
Gold is used in the electronics industry to make more than 10 billion tiny electrical contacts every
year.
The world's dentists use over 60 tons of gold every year.
Gold has medicinal and healing properties - it can be used in treating rheumatoid arthritis, chronic
ulcers and tuberculosis.
Nearly 40 tons of gold were used in the construction of space shuttle"Columbia" in preparation for
its maiden flight in April 1981.
Gold can be eaten - it is indeed eaten in many Asian cultures.
Gold is found in minute proportions in the human body, whether you have eaten it or not.
The largest South African gold nugget weighed 7.8 kilograms (approx. 17 lbs.) and was found at
the town of Pilgrim's Rest (near the Kruger National Park) between 1875 and 1881. The largest
nugget ever discovered weighed 70.92 kilograms (approx. 160 lbs.) and was found in Victoria,
Australia.
All the gold ever mined in the world would fit into a store room measuring 17 metres long, 17
metres high and 17 metres wide (approx. 5000 cubic metres/yards). More steel is poured in an
hour than gold has been poured since the beginning of time.
The American Federal Reserve on Wall Street, New York, is the biggest repository of gold in the
world; some 13000 tons of gold are kept behind 90 ton steel doors in vaults blasted out of solid
granite.
Of the estimated 127000 tons of refined gold in the world - bullion, jewellery, coin - no less than
42000 tons (or 33 %) has been mined in South Africa since 1886.
Gold has been used as a currency for over 5000 years.
The oldest gold jewellery ever was crafted in Africa (3200BC). · India has by far the biggest annual
offtake of gold: 508 tons in 1996, enough to make about 175 million plain, 18 carat wedding rings.

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