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82-395: The Gawler Craton covers approximately 440,000 square kilometres of central South Australia. Its Precambrian crystalline basement crustal block was cratonised ca. 1550–1450 Ma. Prior to 1550 Ma the craton comprised a number of active Proterozoic orogenic belts extending back in time to at least 2450 Ma. The Craton can be subdivided into a number of tectonic subdomains on

164-399: A fault . Water often lubricates faults, filling in fractures and jogs. About 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) below the surface, under very high temperatures and pressures, the water carries high concentrations of carbon dioxide, silica, and gold. During an earthquake, the fault jog suddenly opens wider. The water inside the void instantly vaporizes, flashing to steam and forcing silica, which forms

246-708: A supereon , but this is also an informal term, not defined by the ICS in its chronostratigraphic guide. Eozoic (from eo- "earliest") was a synonym for pre-Cambrian , or more specifically Archean . A specific date for the origin of life has not been determined. Carbon found in 3.8 billion-year-old rocks (Archean Eon) from islands off western Greenland may be of organic origin. Well-preserved microscopic fossils of bacteria older than 3.46 billion years have been found in Western Australia . Probable fossils 100 million years older have been found in

328-483: A dilute solution of gold(III) chloride or chlorauric acid . Unlike sulfur, phosphorus reacts directly with gold at elevated temperatures to produce gold phosphide (Au 2 P 3 ). Gold readily dissolves in mercury at room temperature to form an amalgam , and forms alloys with many other metals at higher temperatures. These alloys can be produced to modify the hardness and other metallurgical properties, to control melting point or to create exotic colors. Gold

410-579: A gold-from-seawater swindle in the United States in the 1890s, as did an English fraudster in the early 1900s. Fritz Haber did research on the extraction of gold from sea water in an effort to help pay Germany 's reparations following World War I . Based on the published values of 2 to 64 ppb of gold in seawater, a commercially successful extraction seemed possible. After analysis of 4,000 water samples yielding an average of 0.004 ppb, it became clear that extraction would not be possible, and he ended

492-830: A golden hue to metallic caesium . Common colored gold alloys include the distinctive eighteen-karat rose gold created by the addition of copper. Alloys containing palladium or nickel are also important in commercial jewelry as these produce white gold alloys. Fourteen-karat gold-copper alloy is nearly identical in color to certain bronze alloys, and both may be used to produce police and other badges . Fourteen- and eighteen-karat gold alloys with silver alone appear greenish-yellow and are referred to as green gold . Blue gold can be made by alloying with iron , and purple gold can be made by alloying with aluminium . Less commonly, addition of manganese , indium , and other elements can produce more unusual colors of gold for various applications. Colloidal gold , used by electron-microscopists,

574-567: A large alluvial deposit. The mines at Roşia Montană in Transylvania were also very large, and until very recently, still mined by opencast methods. They also exploited smaller deposits in Britain , such as placer and hard-rock deposits at Dolaucothi . The various methods they used are well described by Pliny the Elder in his encyclopedia Naturalis Historia written towards the end of

656-516: A major fault and geochemically anomalous in gold, nickel, chromium, platinum and palladium. Drilling has confirmed significant widespread uranium mineralisation at the "Warrior" palaeochannel in central Gawler just west of Prominent Hill and there is active uranium exploration over an extended portion of the Kingoonya Palaeochannel system within the southern Gawler Craton. "Warrior" is the most significant known uranium occurrence in

738-462: A novel type of metal-halide perovskite material consisting of Au and Au cations in its crystal structure has been found. It has been shown to be unexpectedly stable at normal conditions. Gold pentafluoride , along with its derivative anion, AuF − 6 , and its difluorine complex , gold heptafluoride , is the sole example of gold(V), the highest verified oxidation state. Some gold compounds exhibit aurophilic bonding , which describes

820-735: A possible 2450 Ma red alga from the Kola Peninsula , 1650 Ma carbonaceous biosignatures in north China, the 1600 Ma Rafatazmia , and a possible 1047 Ma Bangiomorpha red alga from the Canadian Arctic. The earliest fossils widely accepted as complex multicellular organisms date from the Ediacaran Period. A very diverse collection of soft-bodied forms is found in a variety of locations worldwide and date to between 635 and 542 Ma. These are referred to as Ediacaran or Vendian biota . Hard-shelled creatures appeared toward

902-401: A sheet of 1 square metre (11 sq ft), and an avoirdupois ounce into 28 square metres (300 sq ft). Gold leaf can be beaten thin enough to become semi-transparent. The transmitted light appears greenish-blue because gold strongly reflects yellow and red. Such semi-transparent sheets also strongly reflect infrared light, making them useful as infrared (radiant heat) shields in

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984-520: A solution of Au(OH) 3 in concentrated H 2 SO 4 produces red crystals of gold(II) sulfate , Au 2 (SO 4 ) 2 . Originally thought to be a mixed-valence compound, it has been shown to contain Au 4+ 2 cations, analogous to the better-known mercury(I) ion, Hg 2+ 2 . A gold(II) complex, the tetraxenonogold(II) cation, which contains xenon as a ligand, occurs in [AuXe 4 ](Sb 2 F 11 ) 2 . In September 2023,

1066-470: Is Au with a half-life of 2.27 days. Gold's least stable isomer is Au with a half-life of only 7 ns. Au has three decay paths: β decay, isomeric transition , and alpha decay. No other isomer or isotope of gold has three decay paths. The possible production of gold from a more common element, such as lead , has long been a subject of human inquiry, and the ancient and medieval discipline of alchemy often focused on it; however,

1148-696: Is Au , which decays by proton emission with a half-life of 30 μs. Most of gold's radioisotopes with atomic masses below 197 decay by some combination of proton emission , α decay , and β decay . The exceptions are Au , which decays by electron capture, and Au , which decays most often by electron capture (93%) with a minor β decay path (7%). All of gold's radioisotopes with atomic masses above 197 decay by β decay. At least 32 nuclear isomers have also been characterized, ranging in atomic mass from 170 to 200. Within that range, only Au , Au , Au , Au , and Au do not have isomers. Gold's most stable isomer

1230-669: Is a transition metal , a group 11 element , and one of the noble metals . It is one of the least reactive chemical elements, being the second-lowest in the reactivity series . It is solid under standard conditions . Gold often occurs in free elemental ( native state ), as nuggets or grains, in rocks , veins , and alluvial deposits . It occurs in a solid solution series with the native element silver (as in electrum ), naturally alloyed with other metals like copper and palladium , and mineral inclusions such as within pyrite . Less commonly, it occurs in minerals as gold compounds, often with tellurium ( gold tellurides ). Gold

1312-648: Is also known, an example of a mixed-valence complex . Gold does not react with oxygen at any temperature and, up to 100 °C, is resistant to attack from ozone: Au + O 2 ⟶ ( no reaction ) {\displaystyle {\ce {Au + O2 ->}}({\text{no reaction}})} Au + O 3 → t < 100 ∘ C ( no reaction ) {\displaystyle {\ce {Au{}+O3->[{} \atop {t<100^{\circ }{\text{C}}}]}}({\text{no reaction}})} Some free halogens react to form

1394-520: Is also used in infrared shielding, the production of colored glass , gold leafing , and tooth restoration . Certain gold salts are still used as anti-inflammatory agents in medicine. Gold is the most malleable of all metals. It can be drawn into a wire of single-atom width, and then stretched considerably before it breaks. Such nanowires distort via the formation, reorientation, and migration of dislocations and crystal twins without noticeable hardening. A single gram of gold can be beaten into

1476-427: Is always richer at the exposed surface of gold-bearing veins, owing to the oxidation of accompanying minerals followed by weathering; and by washing of the dust into streams and rivers, where it collects and can be welded by water action to form nuggets. Gold sometimes occurs combined with tellurium as the minerals calaverite , krennerite , nagyagite , petzite and sylvanite (see telluride minerals ), and as

1558-517: Is attributed to wind-blown dust or rivers. At 10 parts per quadrillion, the Earth's oceans would hold 15,000 tonnes of gold. These figures are three orders of magnitude less than reported in the literature prior to 1988, indicating contamination problems with the earlier data. A number of people have claimed to be able to economically recover gold from sea water , but they were either mistaken or acted in an intentional deception. Prescott Jernegan ran

1640-543: Is considered by Primary Industries and Regions SA (PIRSA) as a possible analogue of the Fowler Domain. The Thompson Nickel Belt hosts major nickel deposits which have been mined by Inco since the early 1960s. Previous explorations in the Wynbring area consisted of wide-spaced reconnaissance bedrock drilling by PIRSA that indicated the presence of a 30 kilometre-long zone of intermediate to ultramafic rocks adjacent to

1722-470: Is found in ores in rock formed from the Precambrian time onward. It most often occurs as a native metal , typically in a metal solid solution with silver (i.e. as a gold/silver alloy ). Such alloys usually have a silver content of 8–10%. Electrum is elemental gold with more than 20% silver, and is commonly known as white gold . Electrum's color runs from golden-silvery to silvery, dependent upon

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1804-667: Is host to several major gold prospects including those in the Nuckulla Hill region (Sheoak, Myall and Bimba) and at Tunkillia. On western Eyre Peninsula, the Coulta Subdomain merges with the Nuyts Subdomain which is dominated by variably deformed ca. 1670–1610 Ma granitoids, mafics and felsic volcanics. Deformation is attributed to the Kalaran Orogeny which generated a major fold belt or shear zone ,

1886-664: Is known about the Precambrian, despite it making up roughly seven-eighths of the Earth's history , and what is known has largely been discovered from the 1960s onwards. The Precambrian fossil record is poorer than that of the succeeding Phanerozoic , and fossils from the Precambrian (e.g. stromatolites ) are of limited biostratigraphic use. This is because many Precambrian rocks have been heavily metamorphosed , obscuring their origins, while others have been destroyed by erosion, or remain deeply buried beneath Phanerozoic strata. It

1968-552: Is known to occur during the RNA replication of extant coronaviruses . Evidence of the details of plate motions and other tectonic activity in the Precambrian is difficult to interpret. It is generally believed that small proto-continents existed before 4280 Ma, and that most of the Earth's landmasses collected into a single supercontinent around 1130 Ma. The supercontinent, known as Rodinia , broke up around 750 Ma. A number of glacial periods have been identified going as far back as

2050-472: Is most often called the oldest since this treasure is the largest and most diverse. Gold artifacts probably made their first appearance in Ancient Egypt at the very beginning of the pre-dynastic period, at the end of the fifth millennium BC and the start of the fourth, and smelting was developed during the course of the 4th millennium; gold artifacts appear in the archeology of Lower Mesopotamia during

2132-708: Is northwest of Olympic Dam and the Challenger Gold Mine is to the west of Prominent Hill located in the centre of the craton. The 70 million tonne Kalkaroo Mine is to the south and contains approximately 320,000 tonnes of copper, 1 million ounces of gold and 8.56 million kg of molybdenum in an optimised open pit designed to 230 metres depth. The Wynbring area, a large part of the western Fowler Domain, covers approximately 2,000 square kilometres and consists of fractures that may include intrusion of mafic-ultramafic bodies with potential for nickel sulfides, chromite and platinoids. Exploration and regional drilling near

2214-542: Is now questioned. The gold-bearing Witwatersrand rocks were laid down between 700 and 950 million years before the Vredefort impact. These gold-bearing rocks had furthermore been covered by a thick layer of Ventersdorp lavas and the Transvaal Supergroup of rocks before the meteor struck, and thus the gold did not actually arrive in the asteroid/meteorite. What the Vredefort impact achieved, however,

2296-427: Is red if the particles are small; larger particles of colloidal gold are blue. Gold has only one stable isotope , Au , which is also its only naturally occurring isotope, so gold is both a mononuclidic and monoisotopic element . Thirty-six radioisotopes have been synthesized, ranging in atomic mass from 169 to 205. The most stable of these is Au with a half-life of 186.1 days. The least stable

2378-553: Is resistant to most acids, though it does dissolve in aqua regia (a mixture of nitric acid and hydrochloric acid ), forming a soluble tetrachloroaurate anion . Gold is insoluble in nitric acid alone, which dissolves silver and base metals , a property long used to refine gold and confirm the presence of gold in metallic substances, giving rise to the term ' acid test '. Gold dissolves in alkaline solutions of cyanide , which are used in mining and electroplating . Gold also dissolves in mercury , forming amalgam alloys, and as

2460-484: Is similarly unaffected by most bases. It does not react with aqueous , solid , or molten sodium or potassium hydroxide . It does however, react with sodium or potassium cyanide under alkaline conditions when oxygen is present to form soluble complexes. Common oxidation states of gold include +1 (gold(I) or aurous compounds) and +3 (gold(III) or auric compounds). Gold ions in solution are readily reduced and precipitated as metal by adding any other metal as

2542-589: Is the soluble form of gold encountered in mining. The binary gold halides , such as AuCl , form zigzag polymeric chains, again featuring linear coordination at Au. Most drugs based on gold are Au(I) derivatives. Au(III) (referred to as auric) is a common oxidation state, and is illustrated by gold(III) chloride , Au 2 Cl 6 . The gold atom centers in Au(III) complexes, like other d compounds, are typically square planar , with chemical bonds that have both covalent and ionic character. Gold(I,III) chloride

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2624-521: Is thought that the Earth coalesced from material in orbit around the Sun at roughly 4,543 Ma, and may have been struck by another planet called Theia shortly after it formed, splitting off material that formed the Moon (see Giant-impact hypothesis ). A stable crust was apparently in place by 4,433 Ma, since zircon crystals from Western Australia have been dated at 4,404 ± 8 Ma. The term "Precambrian"

2706-657: Is thought to have been delivered to Earth by asteroid impacts during the Late Heavy Bombardment , about 4 billion years ago. Gold which is reachable by humans has, in one case, been associated with a particular asteroid impact. The asteroid that formed Vredefort impact structure 2.020 billion years ago is often credited with seeding the Witwatersrand basin in South Africa with the richest gold deposits on earth. However, this scenario

2788-511: Is thought to have been produced in supernova nucleosynthesis , and from the collision of neutron stars , and to have been present in the dust from which the Solar System formed. Traditionally, gold in the universe is thought to have formed by the r-process (rapid neutron capture) in supernova nucleosynthesis , but more recently it has been suggested that gold and other elements heavier than iron may also be produced in quantity by

2870-432: Is thought to have formed about 1300-900 Ma, to have included most or all of Earth's continents and to have broken up into eight continents around 750–600 million years ago. Gold Gold is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Au (from Latin aurum ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a bright , slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable , and ductile metal . Chemically, gold

2952-416: Is unaffected by most acids. It does not react with hydrofluoric , hydrochloric , hydrobromic , hydriodic , sulfuric , or nitric acid . It does react with selenic acid , and is dissolved by aqua regia , a 1:3 mixture of nitric acid and hydrochloric acid . Nitric acid oxidizes the metal to +3 ions, but only in minute amounts, typically undetectable in the pure acid because of the chemical equilibrium of

3034-731: Is used by geologists and paleontologists for general discussions not requiring a more specific eon name. However, both the United States Geological Survey and the International Commission on Stratigraphy regard the term as informal. Because the span of time falling under the Precambrian consists of three eons (the Hadean , the Archean , and the Proterozoic ), it is sometimes described as

3116-666: The Chu (state) circulated the Ying Yuan , one kind of square gold coin. In Roman metallurgy , new methods for extracting gold on a large scale were developed by introducing hydraulic mining methods, especially in Hispania from 25 BC onwards and in Dacia from 106 AD onwards. One of their largest mines was at Las Medulas in León , where seven long aqueducts enabled them to sluice most of

3198-534: The Huronian epoch, roughly 2400–2100 Ma. One of the best studied is the Sturtian-Varangian glaciation, around 850–635 Ma, which may have brought glacial conditions all the way to the equator, resulting in a " Snowball Earth ". The atmosphere of the early Earth is not well understood. Most geologists believe it was composed primarily of nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and other relatively inert gases, and

3280-602: The Old Testament , starting with Genesis 2:11 (at Havilah ), the story of the golden calf , and many parts of the temple including the Menorah and the golden altar. In the New Testament , it is included with the gifts of the magi in the first chapters of Matthew. The Book of Revelation 21:21 describes the city of New Jerusalem as having streets "made of pure gold, clear as crystal". Exploitation of gold in

3362-658: The Varna Necropolis near Lake Varna and the Black Sea coast, thought to be the earliest "well-dated" finding of gold artifacts in history. Several prehistoric Bulgarian finds are considered no less old – the golden treasures of Hotnitsa, Durankulak , artifacts from the Kurgan settlement of Yunatsite near Pazardzhik , the golden treasure Sakar, as well as beads and gold jewelry found in the Kurgan settlement of Provadia – Solnitsata ("salt pit"). However, Varna gold

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3444-482: The oxygen catastrophe . At first, oxygen would have quickly combined with other elements in Earth's crust, primarily iron, removing it from the atmosphere. After the supply of oxidizable surfaces ran out, oxygen would have begun to accumulate in the atmosphere, and the modern high-oxygen atmosphere would have developed. Evidence for this lies in older rocks that contain massive banded iron formations that were laid down as iron oxides. A terminology has evolved covering

3526-470: The reducing agent . The added metal is oxidized and dissolves, allowing the gold to be displaced from solution and be recovered as a solid precipitate. Less common oxidation states of gold include −1, +2, and +5. The −1 oxidation state occurs in aurides, compounds containing the Au anion . Caesium auride (CsAu), for example, crystallizes in the caesium chloride motif; rubidium, potassium, and tetramethylammonium aurides are also known. Gold has

3608-647: The Cleve Subdomain is bounded by the slightly younger Moonta Subdomain which is characterised by less intensely deformed metamorphosed acid volcanics and sediments ranging from the Myola Volcanics and Moonta Porphyry to the Moonabie Formation and Wandearah Meta siltstone . Subsequent deformation on the craton has been largely epeirogenic forming shallow fault-bounded intracontinental depressions represented by Cainozoic basins,

3690-816: The Corunna Conglomerate, the Gawler Range Volcanics (GRV), the Pandurra Formation, and thin platformal late Proterozoic and Cambrian sediments of the Stuart and Spencer Shelves. In and around the Gawler Ranges , the volcanics and older rocks were intruded by Hiltaba Suite granites (found in the Hiltaba Nature Reserve ) which are closely associated with formation of the giant Olympic Dam ore body of

3772-725: The Eastern Olympic Copper-Gold Province. Although relatively undeformed, the Gawler Range Volcanics, which extend from the centre of the craton to its eastern margin, represent a major period of crustal deformation ca. 1590 Ma which heralded the final consolidation and stabilisation of the craton as it is seen today. In the central Craton, the Yarlbrinda Shear Zone was likely formed by the Kararan Orogeny and it

3854-472: The Fowler Shear Zone, ca. 1600–1540 Ma. Economically important deposits found in the craton include gold , diamonds , copper , nickel , granite , iron ore , lead - zinc , uranium , coal , industrial minerals and arsenic . The huge Olympic Dam copper-gold operation is located in the Eastern Olympic Copper-Gold Province at the cratons eastern edge. The Prominent Hill copper-gold mine

3936-549: The Gawler Craton. Precambrian The Precambrian is an informal unit of geologic time, subdivided into three eons ( Hadean , Archean , Proterozoic ) of the geologic time scale . It spans from the formation of Earth about 4.6 billion years ago ( Ga ) to the beginning of the Cambrian Period, about 538.8 million years ago ( Ma ), when hard-shelled creatures first appeared in abundance. Relatively little

4018-633: The basis of structure and tectono stratigraphic history. The south-central Eyre Peninsula straddles the boundary between the Archaean to early Palaeoproterozoic Coulta Subdomain and the Cleve Subdomain, a Palaeoproterozoic orogenic belt ("mobile zone") probably representing a shelf or basinal depository for the Hutchison Group (ca. 1900–1845 Ma) prior to its deformation during the Kimban orogeny (ca. 1845–1710 Ma). On northeastern Eyre Peninsula,

4100-1409: The corresponding gold halides. Gold is strongly attacked by fluorine at dull-red heat to form gold(III) fluoride AuF 3 . Powdered gold reacts with chlorine at 180 °C to form gold(III) chloride AuCl 3 . Gold reacts with bromine at 140 °C to form a combination of gold(III) bromide AuBr 3 and gold(I) bromide AuBr, but reacts very slowly with iodine to form gold(I) iodide AuI: 2 Au + 3 F 2 → Δ 2 AuF 3 {\displaystyle {\ce {2Au{}+3F2->[{} \atop \Delta ]2AuF3}}} 2 Au + 3 Cl 2 → Δ 2 AuCl 3 {\displaystyle {\ce {2Au{}+3Cl2->[{} \atop \Delta ]2AuCl3}}} 2 Au + 2 Br 2 → Δ AuBr 3 + AuBr {\displaystyle {\ce {2Au{}+2Br2->[{} \atop \Delta ]AuBr3{}+AuBr}}} 2 Au + I 2 → Δ 2 AuI {\displaystyle {\ce {2Au{}+I2->[{} \atop \Delta ]2AuI}}} Gold does not react with sulfur directly, but gold(III) sulfide can be made by passing hydrogen sulfide through

4182-401: The current scheme based upon numerical ages. Such a system could rely on events in the stratigraphic record and be demarcated by GSSPs . The Precambrian could be divided into five "natural" eons, characterized as follows: The movement of Earth's plates has caused the formation and break-up of continents over time, including occasional formation of a supercontinent containing most or all of

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4264-424: The densest element, osmium , is 22.588 ± 0.015 g/cm . Whereas most metals are gray or silvery white, gold is slightly reddish-yellow. This color is determined by the frequency of plasma oscillations among the metal's valence electrons, in the ultraviolet range for most metals but in the visible range for gold due to relativistic effects affecting the orbitals around gold atoms. Similar effects impart

4346-689: The early 4th millennium. As of 1990, gold artifacts found at the Wadi Qana cave cemetery of the 4th millennium BC in West Bank were the earliest from the Levant. Gold artifacts such as the golden hats and the Nebra disk appeared in Central Europe from the 2nd millennium BC Bronze Age . The oldest known map of a gold mine was drawn in the 19th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt (1320–1200 BC), whereas

4428-453: The early years of the Earth's existence, as radiometric dating has allowed absolute dates to be assigned to specific formations and features. The Precambrian is divided into three eons: the Hadean (4567.3–4031 Ma), Archean (4031-2500 Ma) and Proterozoic (2500-538.8 Ma). See Timetable of the Precambrian . It has been proposed that the Precambrian should be divided into eons and eras that reflect stages of planetary evolution, rather than

4510-760: The end of that time span, marking the beginning of the Phanerozoic Eon. By the middle of the following Cambrian Period, a very diverse fauna is recorded in the Burgess Shale , including some which may represent stem groups of modern taxa. The increase in diversity of lifeforms during the early Cambrian is called the Cambrian explosion of life. While land seems to have been devoid of plants and animals, cyanobacteria and other microbes formed prokaryotic mats that covered terrestrial areas. Tracks from an animal with leg-like appendages have been found in what

4592-591: The first written reference to gold was recorded in the 12th Dynasty around 1900 BC. Egyptian hieroglyphs from as early as 2600 BC describe gold, which King Tushratta of the Mitanni claimed was "more plentiful than dirt" in Egypt. Egypt and especially Nubia had the resources to make them major gold-producing areas for much of history. One of the earliest known maps, known as the Turin Papyrus Map , shows

4674-403: The gold acts simply as a solute, this is not a chemical reaction . A relatively rare element, gold is a precious metal that has been used for coinage , jewelry , and other works of art throughout recorded history . In the past, a gold standard was often implemented as a monetary policy . Gold coins ceased to be minted as a circulating currency in the 1930s, and the world gold standard

4756-563: The highest electron affinity of any metal, at 222.8 kJ/mol, making Au a stable species, analogous to the halides . Gold also has a –1 oxidation state in covalent complexes with the group 4 transition metals, such as in titanium tetraauride and the analogous zirconium and hafnium compounds. These chemicals are expected to form gold-bridged dimers in a manner similar to titanium(IV) hydride . Gold(II) compounds are usually diamagnetic with Au–Au bonds such as [ Au(CH 2 ) 2 P(C 6 H 5 ) 2 ] 2 Cl 2 . The evaporation of

4838-541: The landmass. The earliest known supercontinent was Vaalbara . It formed from proto-continents and was a supercontinent 3.636 billion years ago. Vaalbara broke up c. 2.845–2.803 Ga ago. The supercontinent Kenorland was formed c. 2.72 Ga ago and then broke sometime after 2.45–2.1 Ga into the proto-continent cratons called Laurentia , Baltica , Yilgarn craton and Kalahari . The supercontinent Columbia , or Nuna, formed 2.1–1.8 billion years ago and broke up about 1.3–1.2 billion years ago. The supercontinent Rodinia

4920-547: The mineral quartz, and gold out of the fluids and onto nearby surfaces. The world's oceans contain gold. Measured concentrations of gold in the Atlantic and Northeast Pacific are 50–150 femtomol /L or 10–30 parts per quadrillion (about 10–30 g/km ). In general, gold concentrations for south Atlantic and central Pacific samples are the same (~50 femtomol/L) but less certain. Mediterranean deep waters contain slightly higher concentrations of gold (100–150 femtomol/L), which

5002-411: The noble metals, it still forms many diverse compounds. The oxidation state of gold in its compounds ranges from −1 to +5, but Au(I) and Au(III) dominate its chemistry. Au(I), referred to as the aurous ion, is the most common oxidation state with soft ligands such as thioethers , thiolates , and organophosphines . Au(I) compounds are typically linear. A good example is Au(CN) − 2 , which

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5084-677: The northern end of the Fowler Domain and within the Harris Greenstone Belt has identified numerous large mafic and ultramafic bodies which have the potential to host nickel sulfide mineralisation. Ultramafic intrusive rock hosting nickel bearing sulfides ( pentlandite and mackinawite ) have returned values up to 0.49% nickel, 38 parts per billion (ppb) platinum and 58 ppb palladium. Previous explorations reported up to 0.74% nickel from samples obtained in shallow bedrock drilling. The Thompson Belt in Canada has similar features and

5166-576: The plan of a gold mine in Nubia together with indications of the local geology . The primitive working methods are described by both Strabo and Diodorus Siculus , and included fire-setting . Large mines were also present across the Red Sea in what is now Saudi Arabia . Gold is mentioned in the Amarna letters numbered 19 and 26 from around the 14th century BC. Gold is mentioned frequently in

5248-476: The presence of a high concentration of crustal scale fractures and faults in this area. These structures could have provided pathways for the intrusion of mafic -ultramafic bodies with potential for nickel sulfides, chromite and platinoids . The Olympic Copper-Gold Province is a 650 km long corridor along the eastern boundary of the craton. Palaeoproterozoic rocks of the eastern and central Gawler Craton are overlain by relatively unmetamorphosed clastics of

5330-464: The project. The earliest recorded metal employed by humans appears to be gold, which can be found free or " native ". Small amounts of natural gold have been found in Spanish caves used during the late Paleolithic period, c.  40,000 BC . The oldest gold artifacts in the world are from Bulgaria and are dating back to the 5th millennium BC (4,600 BC to 4,200 BC), such as those found in

5412-690: The r-process in the collision of neutron stars . In both cases, satellite spectrometers at first only indirectly detected the resulting gold. However, in August 2017, the spectroscopic signatures of heavy elements, including gold, were observed by electromagnetic observatories in the GW170817 neutron star merger event, after gravitational wave detectors confirmed the event as a neutron star merger. Current astrophysical models suggest that this single neutron star merger event generated between 3 and 13 Earth masses of gold. This amount, along with estimations of

5494-620: The rare bismuthide maldonite ( Au 2 Bi ) and antimonide aurostibite ( AuSb 2 ). Gold also occurs in rare alloys with copper , lead , and mercury : the minerals auricupride ( Cu 3 Au ), novodneprite ( AuPb 3 ) and weishanite ( (Au,Ag) 3 Hg 2 ). A 2004 research paper suggests that microbes can sometimes play an important role in forming gold deposits, transporting and precipitating gold to form grains and nuggets that collect in alluvial deposits. A 2013 study has claimed water in faults vaporizes during an earthquake, depositing gold. When an earthquake strikes, it moves along

5576-420: The rate of occurrence of these neutron star merger events, suggests that such mergers may produce enough gold to account for most of the abundance of this element in the universe. Because the Earth was molten when it was formed , almost all of the gold present in the early Earth probably sank into the planetary core . Therefore, as hypothesized in one model, most of the gold in the Earth's crust and mantle

5658-935: The reaction. However, the ions are removed from the equilibrium by hydrochloric acid, forming AuCl − 4 ions, or chloroauric acid , thereby enabling further oxidation: 2 Au + 6 H 2 SeO 4 → 200 ∘ C Au 2 ( SeO 4 ) 3 + 3 H 2 SeO 3 + 3 H 2 O {\displaystyle {\ce {2Au{}+6H2SeO4->[{} \atop {200^{\circ }{\text{C}}}]Au2(SeO4)3{}+3H2SeO3{}+3H2O}}} Au + 4 HCl + HNO 3 ⟶ HAuCl 4 + NO ↑ + 2 H 2 O {\displaystyle {\ce {Au{}+4HCl{}+HNO3->HAuCl4{}+NO\uparrow +2H2O}}} Gold

5740-473: The rest of the gold on Earth is thought to have been incorporated into the planet since its very beginning, as planetesimals formed the mantle . In 2017, an international group of scientists established that gold "came to the Earth's surface from the deepest regions of our planet", the mantle, as evidenced by their findings at Deseado Massif in the Argentinian Patagonia . On Earth, gold

5822-526: The same area. However, there is evidence that life could have evolved over 4.280 billion years ago. There is a fairly solid record of bacterial life throughout the remainder (Proterozoic Eon) of the Precambrian. Complex multicellular organisms may have appeared as early as 2100 Ma. However, the interpretation of ancient fossils is problematic, and "... some definitions of multicellularity encompass everything from simple bacterial colonies to badgers." Other possible early complex multicellular organisms include

5904-486: The same result and showing that the isotopes of gold produced by it were all radioactive . In 1980, Glenn Seaborg transmuted several thousand atoms of bismuth into gold at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory. Gold can be manufactured in a nuclear reactor, but doing so is highly impractical and would cost far more than the value of the gold that is produced. Although gold is the most noble of

5986-486: The silver content. The more silver, the lower the specific gravity . Native gold occurs as very small to microscopic particles embedded in rock, often together with quartz or sulfide minerals such as " fool's gold ", which is a pyrite . These are called lode deposits. The metal in a native state is also found in the form of free flakes, grains or larger nuggets that have been eroded from rocks and end up in alluvial deposits called placer deposits . Such free gold

6068-450: The south-east corner of the Black Sea is said to date from the time of Midas , and this gold was important in the establishment of what is probably the world's earliest coinage in Lydia around 610 BC. The legend of the golden fleece dating from eighth century BCE may refer to the use of fleeces to trap gold dust from placer deposits in the ancient world. From the 6th or 5th century BC,

6150-584: The southern continental margin and Spencer Gulf . The Gawler Craton, or Gawler Block, is a distinct physiographic province of the larger West Australian Shield division. It includes the smaller Stuart Range Basin and Pimba Platform physiographic sections. The Fowler Domain is a major tectonic zone on the north-western flank of the Gawler Craton comprising dense, magnetic, highly deformed, intermediate to ultramafic intrusives overlain by thin Tertiary sands and recent sand dunes. Aeromagnetic surveys show

6232-436: The tendency of gold ions to interact at distances that are too long to be a conventional Au–Au bond but shorter than van der Waals bonding . The interaction is estimated to be comparable in strength to that of a hydrogen bond . Well-defined cluster compounds are numerous. In some cases, gold has a fractional oxidation state. A representative example is the octahedral species {Au( P(C 6 H 5 ) 3 )} 2+ 6 . Gold

6314-403: The transmutation of the chemical elements did not become possible until the understanding of nuclear physics in the 20th century. The first synthesis of gold was conducted by Japanese physicist Hantaro Nagaoka , who synthesized gold from mercury in 1924 by neutron bombardment. An American team, working without knowledge of Nagaoka's prior study, conducted the same experiment in 1941, achieving

6396-417: The visors of heat-resistant suits and in sun visors for spacesuits . Gold is a good conductor of heat and electricity . Gold has a density of 19.3 g/cm , almost identical to that of tungsten at 19.25 g/cm ; as such, tungsten has been used in the counterfeiting of gold bars , such as by plating a tungsten bar with gold. By comparison, the density of lead is 11.34 g/cm , and that of

6478-787: Was abandoned for a fiat currency system after the Nixon shock measures of 1971. In 2020, the world's largest gold producer was China, followed by Russia and Australia. As of 2020 , a total of around 201,296 tonnes of gold exist above ground. This is equal to a cube, with each side measuring roughly 21.7 meters (71 ft). The world's consumption of new gold produced is about 50% in jewelry, 40% in investments , and 10% in industry . Gold's high malleability, ductility, resistance to corrosion and most other chemical reactions, as well as conductivity of electricity have led to its continued use in corrosion-resistant electrical connectors in all types of computerized devices (its chief industrial use). Gold

6560-482: Was lacking in free oxygen . There is, however, evidence that an oxygen-rich atmosphere existed since the early Archean. At present, it is still believed that molecular oxygen was not a significant fraction of Earth's atmosphere until after photosynthetic life forms evolved and began to produce it in large quantities as a byproduct of their metabolism . This radical shift from a chemically inert to an oxidizing atmosphere caused an ecological crisis , sometimes called

6642-852: Was mud 551 million years ago. The RNA world hypothesis asserts that RNA evolved before coded proteins and DNA genomes. During the Hadean Eon (4,567–4,031 Ma) abundant geothermal microenvironments were present that may have had the potential to support the synthesis and replication of RNA and thus possibly the evolution of a primitive life form. It was shown that porous rock systems comprising heated air-water interfaces could allow ribozyme - catalyzed RNA replication of sense and antisense strands that could be followed by strand-dissociation, thus enabling combined synthesis, release and folding of active ribozymes. This primitive RNA replicative system also may have been able to undergo template strand switching during replication ( genetic recombination ) as

6724-621: Was to distort the Witwatersrand basin in such a way that the gold-bearing rocks were brought to the present erosion surface in Johannesburg , on the Witwatersrand , just inside the rim of the original 300 km (190 mi) diameter crater caused by the meteor strike. The discovery of the deposit in 1886 launched the Witwatersrand Gold Rush . Some 22% of all the gold that is ascertained to exist today on Earth has been extracted from these Witwatersrand rocks. Much of

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