Gold FAQ

Answers to some of the frequently asked questions about gold.

What Is Gold?
Gold is metallic element with the chemical symbol Au (which comes from the Latin word aurum). Most people never own pure gold, almost all gold jewelry you can buy is an alloy, a mixture of gold with an other metal such as copper, silver or zinc. Different proportions of metal wil give different colours of metal such as yellow, rose or green gold.

Where Is Gold Found?
Gold has been found in many countries around the world, including of course the US. The largest source of gold is South Africa.

What Is Fool's Gold?
Fool's Gold is the common name for iron pyrite, a worthless metal which looks like gold and is found in similar places.

What Is Panning For Gold?
Gold panning is a simple method used to locate and extract small amounts of gold from soil.

What Are Karats?
Karats are a measure of gold purity. Pure gold is defined as being 24 karat, most of the gold jewelry you buy in the stores is between 9 and 14 karats.

What Is White Gold?
White gold is a silvery-grey alloy of gold with another metal, normally either nickel or palladium.

What Is Gold Bullion?
The term bullion refers to any solid lump of pure precious metal.When people think of gold bulion they usually think of the large bars or ingots such as those held at Fort Knox.

Is There Realy Any Gold in Fort Knox?
Your guess is as good as mine...