Blog posts tagged by tag: precious metals

• Gold: The Most Precious of Metals (Part 3)

  Gold production in many countries, especially in developing or emerging markets, has declined in recent years as the global economy has largely improved since the global financial crisis. Many mining operations have shut down or downsized significantly. However, prices have been increasing since 2016 as safe haven buying has increased. In part 3 of our series on gold, we begin with a section explaining why the price of gold has been fluctuating in recent years. This is followed by a section on the history and news on gold production in each of the top gold producing economies globally in 2017 according to the United States Geological Survey as well as the 2018 economic outlook for each according to the FocusEconomics Consensus Forecast.

  

  Click to Continue

  Tags: Commodities, Gold, Infographic, precious metals

• Gold: The Most Precious of Metals (Part 2)

  Contents 1. Gold mining 2. Gold purity 3. Uses of gold 4. Gold and the economy

  In an effort to convey why gold is such a precious metal, in part one of this series, we provided a thorough explanation of the history of gold and the gold standard along with a discussion on the potential viability of the gold standard today. In part two, we can further our discussion on why gold is so unique by explaining how it is mined and processed and discuss how its unique physical properties make it one of the most useful metals. Finally, we end the post with a section on gold's importance to the global economy, the factors that set it apart from all other commodities, and how it can be classed as both a commodity and a monetary asset. If you like, you can click on the links to the left to skip ahead in the document.

  Click to Continue

  Tags: Commodities, Gold, precious metals

• Gold: The Most Precious of Metals

  When Hernán Cortes, the famous Spanish Conquistador, first came to the New World in the 16^th century, he and his men encountered indigenous civilizations that had been established there for millennia. They had never interacted with each other. They were separated by a vast ocean, did not have a common language, culture or customs, yet the one thing that they did have in common was their insatiable appetite for gold. From the very beginning, something about gold attracted civilizations all over the world without those civilizations ever having made contact with each other. It has been a symbol of beauty, power, purity and accomplishment since its discovery. Not only does gold’s natural beauty make it so mysteriously precious, but it may also be the most useful metal in the world. It is a good conductor of electricity, it does not tarnish or oxidize, and it is extremely malleable allowing it to be worked with, pounded and shaped without breaking. It is so malleable, in fact, that it can be rolled thin enough to let light pass through it. Gold is also one of the few commodities that can also be thought of as a currency or monetary asset. Many currencies around the world used to be backed by gold until recently and, although the gold standard is long since abandoned, gold is still very effectively used as a safe haven asset in times of economic turmoil to preserve wealth. With all of that said, this series of blog posts on gold will seek to explain why it is such a precious metal, by giving a history, discussing its properties, the mining and production process, the uses for gold, the top gold producing countries and lastly explain its role as a traded commodity.

  Click to Continue

  Tags: Commodities, Gold, precious metals