GOLD!

Table of Contents

Even before the great tribes of Egypt there were rulers in the ancient city of UR that possessed treasure troves of gold (St. John, 1984, p. 18). Alex Del Mar, in his book History of the Precious Metals, states that, "Gold is the principle motive behind civilization and not geographic location” (Del Mar, 1968, p. 5). The significance of gold as a tool of barter can be traced to the earliest known civilizations. As gold is the only metal found readily refined by nature, in quantities large enough to collect, it has to be the first metal used by simple reason. Gold was a tool for barter long before it was used for money. This is demonstrated in the Scythian example, where gold was used long before the invention of money. Wonderful examples of Scythian gold from the fifth-century B.C. show excellent metalsmithing skills leaving behind specific attributes of the artisans who produced them, giving stunning evidence of the individual clothing and hairstyles. See Figure one for an example. Not only was gold used for their weapons, it served as a tool for their arts as well. The mere fact that gold is used for utilitarian purposes demonstrates a monetary value for gold. This vast amount of wealth provided stability and created aristocracy (Stewart, 2000, p. 89). The stability of aristocracy provided time for alchemy, an ancient craft that mixed primitive chemistry with magic, to try to make gold from common elements (St. John, 1984, p. 30).

Fig. 1. Attributes of the artisans who worked on this gold helmet in ancient Sythia. Image scanned from: Stewart, 2000, Scythian Gold. Smithsonian, 30(12), 88.

Image taken from: http://www.mpm.edu/research/ geology/ gold_lore05.html. Fig 2. The most common gold being mined today, microscopic gold. The majority of gold is trapped inside of hardrock. Microscopic gold recovery is the heart of the modern mining operation and is the modern foundation of western gold mining.

Today mining of microscopic gold takes place on a grand scale. This is testimony to the demand on a world wide scale for gold. Figure 2 shows an example of hardrock containing microscopic gold. There are many uses of gold. I remember my father talking about Edgar Casey doing readings on the health benefits of colloidal gold and silver being a cure-all for MS (Mr. Harris, Pers. Comm., 2000). Gold is frequently used in dentistry as it does not tarnish. Archaeologist found remains of a Egyptian man with a completely preserved set of bridge work 4,500 years old (St. John, 1984, p. 149). The electronics industry has practically been revolutionized due to the many uses of gold. The conductive nature of gold makes it a primary tool for solar energy collection. As a teenager I had privilege to travel with a communications specialist to the high mountain peaks of Nevada and convert the power of the public access television translators to solar energy. The only downfall with this form of power is the super sensitivity to static charge, because as an excellent conductor, gold attracts lightning. This was the case several times one year at the translator station above the Dayton Copper Mine.

In the day of modern space travel gold has been invaluable for our astronauts. Gold has the natural ability to reflect radiation from the Sun (St. John, 1984, p. 156). The harsh conditions of outer space do not affect gold. There is a thin film of pure gold covering the visor of an astronauts helmet. The umbilical cord that connects a astronaut to the shuttle space craft has a protective coating of pure gold (St. John, 1984, p. 156).

Image taken from: http://www-curator.jsc.nasa.gov/ curator/lunar/lunar10.htm This image would be impossible without the layer of gold covering the lens to protect the film. The outer layer of the visor on a space suit and the electronics inside are gold.