Sunday

GOLD!

Table of Contents

Introduction

From the earliest civilizations to the most modern technical advances, I found gold has had a role albeit not always positive or negative. This web page will attempt to share some of the highlights of the history of gold, presenting both the positive aspects of gold and the negative. The positive aspects of gold represent diversified artistic and utilitarian backgrounds and I will begin here.

The Positive Aspects of Gold


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.

Return to table of contents.

The Negative Aspects of Gold

Greed is the greatest negative that gold can produce. From the earliest technical history gold has been an implement of power. Where you have gold you have desire, which fosters industry. The result is marketing of collective desire, which inspires greed. The negative aspect of gold stems from human greed, which led to wars and destruction of the environment. Alex Del Mar, in his book History of the Precious Metals, mentions the citing of a Chinese author by Fathers Dentrecollis and Du Halde, who cited ancient books that note gold silver and copper coins. Bronze coins found in China from the Third Jovian Cycle, around 2218 B.C., were stamped with the words “good for gold” (Del Mar, 1968, p. 6). This suggests that man's interaction with gold can be one of the major devices of wars.

The process of mining gold has been the same for most of time. Gold is found in deposits such as geothermal veins, microfine deposits in host materials, and likely found first in placer deposits. Gold is very heavy and soft. When exposed to weathering at the abrasive surface, veins of gold erode quicker than the host material. Once gold is eroded it can be transported by the natural forces of running water and gravity. The force of gravity, can prevent the transport of gold a great distance from the host rock material. Gold is transported by running water. During the process of transportation the gold becomes separated, concentrated and deposited in the deep curves and crevices in streams. Placer deposit is the name given to gold concentrated by nature this way. The first find of gold in any quantity was probably in or near a placer deposit. Since water is primary to life it can be assumed that early man would have discovered gold in a streambed first. Gradually as this form of prospect played out the development of the mine was created. The oldest known records of placer deposit mining are from Egypt from 4,000 years ago (St. John, 1984, p. 86). Working in the early Egyptian mines was considered a death sentence (St. John, 1984, p. 86).

The Romans were the first to use the process of amalgamation. Amalgamation is the process of mixing mercury with fine flour gold to create an alloy called amalgam. The almagam can then be heated to evaporate the mercury leaving the gold behind (St. John, 1984, p. 87). This form of processing has two inherent harms. The first is the introduction of toxic arsenic gas into the atmosphere. The second is the polluting of the ground water and streams with the mercury-tainted water that is used as the mixing medium for the alloy. This danger can last for hundreds of years and disrupts the food chain by tainting the fish with high concentrations of mercury.


Drawing taken from:
http://www.historichwy49.com/hisdraw.html

Chronologically the next negative aspect of gold mining is hydrolicking. This process involves the channeling of water over great distances downhill and then projecting the water onto a slop of gold bearing deposits. The damage to the environment in some cases has caused entire ecosystems to permanently be altered. The use of great quantities of water and polluting of the rivers with debris furthered this negative aspect. The next process that is negative is the use of cyanide to leach the micro-fine gold from ore. This chemical solution of gold and acid is mixed with zinc powder, which attracts the gold particles and causes it to drop out of suspension where it can be heated and the zinc burned off. The area where this processing is done has an increased probability of ground water contamination and poisoning of the plants and animals.

The final negative aspect of mining gold is development of the new super-pit mines. This technique has been used in copper production for years but has only developed for gold mining since the 1980’s. The biggest unknown is the long-term effect on the water table when creating a pit lake. The mystery lies in the fact that the pits are still being constructed and the lakes and the chemical makeup have yet to be studied only anticipated (Byery, Pielke, Sarewitz, 2000, p. 185). Since the future is unknown one could expect the negative aspect of gold to continue right along with its popularity.


http://www.mpm.edu/research/geology/gold_lore05.html

Conclusion

In conclusion, it has been shown that gold has been around for lot of our civilized history. The advantages of the natural property of gold to be malleable shows up in artifacts older than money and it is the utilitarian uses of gold tht makes it so valuable today. The problems that lead to a negative aspect of gold are multi-dimensional. As long as the shinny yellow metal holds its popularity there will be negative aspects just as persistently.

References and Related Links

Del Mar, A. History of the Precious Metals. Second edition-revised. New York: Burt Franklin 1968.

Stewart, D. 2000. Scythian Gold. Smithsonian volume 30.

St. John, J. Planet Earth Noble metals. New Jersey: Time Life Books Inc. 1984.

Byerly, Jr., Radford, Pielke, Jr., Roger, Sarewitz. Is this number to your liking? Water Quality Predictions in Mining Impact Studies. Prediction Science, Decision Making, and the Future of Nature. Washington D.C. Island Press. 2000.

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