Gold

  • What is it and where is it formed?  Gold is a valuable, yellow metal.  Gold is usually in metamorphic rock but sometimes is found in sedimentary ones, too.  It is found in underground veins of rock where the inside of the Earth heats the water that flows through the rock. 

  • How and where is it mined?  Gold is mined using placer mining, open pit, and hard rock mining.  Gold is found in veins of rock and at the bottom of rivers and streams.  It can be found as small nuggets or flakes, but sometimes it is in gold ore.  You can’t see the gold in gold ore.  The ore is crushed until it is like sand.  There is a long chemical process that separates the gold from the ore. Gold is mined in:  South Africa, The United States [Nevada, California], Australia, Canada, and China.

  • What is it used for?   Gold is used in jewelry, money, computers, TVs, dentistry, and electronics.

  • Interesting!  If you look really closely at gold jewelry, it will show what kind of gold is in it.  If it says 24k [24 carats], it means that it is pure gold.  If it says 18k, 14k, or 10k, it means that some other metal has been added to the gold.  Other metals are added to gold so that it is harder.

  • Interesting Information:

    • Gold Rushes occurred when lots of people found out that gold was found somewhere and everyone traveled to that place to find some, too.  Thousands of people might go to an area where gold was found, hoping to get lucky and find some.

 Gold

Vein
 Vein of gold
Mineral Characteristic What the
mineralogists say		 Kid's Guide:  What it REALLY means!
Chemical Symbol Au

Gold is an element in the Periodic Table of Elements. That means that it is pure with nothing else mixed in it.
Color Bright yellow Gold is a bright yellow color.
Streak Golden yellow If you crush gold, its dust will always be yellow.
Transparency Opaque You can’t see through gold.
Luster Metallic It is a shiny metal.
Cleavage None If it is broken, it doesn’t split cleanly.
Fracture Jagged If it is shattered or broken, the small pieces are pointy and sharp.
Magnetism None Will not attract, or be attracted to, a magnet.
Hardness 2.5 – 3 It is soft and can be shaped easily.
Specific gravity 15 – 19 It is a very, very heavy metal.
Crystal Shape Cubic, usually found in nuggets or small grains.

Cubic