Gold

Refined gold is a dense, soft, chemically inert yellow metal of extraordinary monetary and industrial significance. For millennia, throughout all of Earth, untold millions of men and women have toiled, fought wars and sailed into the unknown for the promise of gold. Despite the passing of time, its primary role remains monetary: gold reserves underpin the Bretton Woods global currency system, and central banks hold it as the ultimate store of value. Its industrial uses are experimental but growing alongside The Digital Revolution, in the form of gold plating for corrosion-resistant electrical contacts. Gold is recovered from ore by cyanide heap leaching or, for high-grade deposits, by direct smelting and cupellation.