Where did gold come from?


​That's easy, from the ground, you'd say. Well, yes, but how did it get in the ground? And that leads to a much longer answer about the geologic processes of our planet, and surprisingly, to some rather recent theories about the creation of gold and how it got to this planet. Physicists currently believe the gold we are digging up out of the ground came from the merging of two neutron stars that happened at least 4.6 billion years ago! Check out the article here. And here is how that gold got to Earth in the article here.

What do we know about the mineral we call Gold?


Gold is an amazing mineral and has very unique properties. Below are a few websites that go into great depth discussing gold.

​Wikipedia here
​Geology.com here
minedat.org here
How much is in a Grain, Gram, Avoir Ounce, Troy Ounce, Pennyweight, ...?

​One of things you'll discover when getting involved with gold prospecting is the many ways of measuring the weight of gold. It seems every profession that deals with gold has their own preference for weighing gold. Here is a handy routine for weight conversion.

How fine is your gold?


​Then there's the measure of the Fineness of gold. It is measured in Karats. Here is the Wikipedia entry for Fineness, and another webpage describing the different Karats of gold. The gold we pickup out of ground is usually not pure, or 24K gold, it is an alloy. When gold and silver form an alloy it is called Electrum. The most accurate way to determine the purity of gold is to have a gold assay performed.
THE VALUE OF GOLD
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​realtime Value of gold, and other Precious Metals

 
​The strip chart below shows the real-time value of gold (updated every 10-seconds). The units on the left vertical axis are US$ per kilogram, and the units on the right vertical axis are US$ per ounce. Notice you can change the precious-metal commodity (Gold, Silver, Platinum or Palladium) and time frame buttons (10-minutes to 20-years) along the top of the chart.

Gold Prospectors Association of New Mexico

GPANM HOTLINE: 505-898-5508
Our mailing address: 
GPANM
P.O. Box 25472
Albuquerque, NM 87125-0472
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