Gold in the World

Gold has made a strong inroad into the human consciousness from time immemorial and we find its presence in the Indian Puranas, the Bible, the Koran and in many a religion including Sikhism. Being in human memory from 40000 BCE, it fascinated the Egyptians in constructing sacred gold artefacts, prompted Alexander the Great for gold coinage resulting into numerous invasions, inspired the Romans to mint gold coins, made Queen Cleopatra to wear gold facial foils to enhance her charm and decoratively covered many domes palaces and place of worship, including the Golden Temple, the citadel of Sikh faith and philosophy, and thus gold has maintained the most sought-after status among all precious metals. As jewellery, it is the quintessential part of the Indian psyche. It has survived all odds and is going strong even during the present economic turmoil. The book covers everything about gold right from its physical and chemical properties, uses, history, birth inside the earth, the searching methods, exploration, mining, extraction, worldwide occurrences from continent to continent, country to country and mine to mine, world production, stockpiles, trade, marketing in the past, pres­ent and future, and usage as jewellery. Like an encyclopaedia, this book describes everything about gold. This data-rich coffee table book is the first of its kind and is a sure hit with any avid reader of exploration, mining, geology and general knowledge.