Skip to main content

China produced 455 metric tons of gold in 2016!

Did you know that China produced 455 metric tons of gold in 2016, or 18.5 billion dollars in today's prices!

South Africa was the leading country in gold production for many years, but as of 2016, South Africa ranked 7th, with that year's production of 140 metric tons.
interesting facts on gold
Shiny gold ingot bars!

Some more interesting trivia facts on Gold:
  • The chemical symbol of Gold is Au
  • Pure 24K gold can easily be molded with the hands. 
  • Tutankhamen's coffin is made of gold, turquoise and lapis lazuli.
  • Gold is actually edible!  There are upscale desserts made with shavings of gold leaf flakes.
  • The precious yellow metal has been found on every continent on Earth.
  • There is about 0.2 milligrams of gold in the human body, mostly in the blood.
  • More gold has been recovered from a ton of old computers than from 17 tons of gold ore.
  • There is nearly 20 million tons of gold in the world's oceans.
  • The higher the carat weight the gold, the better the purity.
  • Talk about hot! Gold melts at 1945 degrees Fahrenheit or 1063 degrees Celsius.
  • The city-state of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates rewards children 2 grams of Gold for every 2.2 pounds or 1 kilogram of weight lost.
  • Aurophobia is the fear of gold.
  • Mr. T's gold collection at one time was worth $120,000!
  • The most valuable gold coin in the world comes from Australia and is 99.99% pure gold.  This $1 million dollar coin weighs 2,205 pounds or 1,000 kilograms and is worth $45 million dollars!
  • More than 52,000 tons of gold still remains in the ground and has a value of $2 trillion dollars.
  • Eros, an asteroid that is near to Earth, has 20 billion tons of gold!
  • A single ounce of gold can be drawn out into a fine wire 50 miles long!
  • The most expensive gold iPhone has 135 grams of 24K gold and is worth $15 million dollars.
  • Human hair contains small amounts of gold.
  • The Sun contains an extremely small amount of gold; in fact, six ten-billionths!
  • Three Olympic sized swimming pools can contain all of the gold ever mined in the world!
  • There is only 1.34% of gold present in Olympic gold medals!
Personal thoughts/reflections:

I have actually had the exciting opportunity of holding a long heavy bar of gold in a plastic box at the Mel Fisher museum in Key West, Florida, in the Spring of 2010.  This gold bar came from a 15th century sunken Spanish galleon, Nuestra Señora de Atocha that famous treasure hunter, Mel Fisher and his crew found in Key West in 1985.

The sad news came in August of 2010, when 2 men brazenly entered into the museum after hours and  broke the plastic box apart, stealing the precious gold bar.  The gold bar, which had a value of $550,000, was never recovered and neither were the men.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

There are turquoise McDonald's arches in Sedona, Arizona!

Did you know that there are turquoise McDonald's arches in Sedona, Arizona? The reason that the arches are blue instead of yellow is because the town did not want to ruin the surrounding desert landscape with a ostentatious yellow logo. The turquoise McArches blend in perfectly with the adobe restaurant; tourists from all over the world come to Sedona to take photos next this fascinating logo. Sedona became an incorporated city in 1988, and a McDonald's franchise owner wanted to open up a McDonald's there a few years later.  He met with the Community Development Department and together they decided for the McArches to be turquoise. McDonald's had opened for business in May of 1993 and the rest is history! Beautiful turquoise McDonalds Arches in Sedona, Arizona!                               Some more interesting McDonald's restaurant facts: The first food item on the McDonald's menu was no...
Post a Comment
Read more

Elvis Presley was offered a movie role in the 1978 classic film, Grease!

Did you know that Elvis Presley was offered a movie role in the 1978 classic film, Grease?  This fun musical film stars Olivia Newton-John as Sandy Olsson and John Travolta as Danny Zuko. Sandy and Danny had a summer romance at a beach in 1958 and Sandy tells him that she will have to soon return with her family to live in Australia.  Since her family decided to stay in the United States, Sandy and Danny eventually meet up at Rydell High School. Sandy makes friends with her girl group, the Pink Ladies, while Danny acts cool with his male gang, The T Birds.  Although there is tension among the two gangs, Danny and Sandy overcome all odds to make their romance blossom. Sandy, Danny, and the gang sing emotional songs about love, heartache, and life in general.  Their popular songs, such as Hopefully Devoted To You, Greased Lightning, Summer Nights, Look At Me I'm Sandra Dee, Beauty School Dropout, and You're The One That I Want, have captivated audiences' hear...
Post a Comment
Read more

Sesame Street was almost called 123 Avenue B!

Did you know that Sesame Street was almost called 123 Avenue B?  Producers could not use 123 Avenue B, since this was a real New York City street, so the famous Sesame Street name took its place. Sesame Street was able to broadcast on November 10, 1969 on the PBS channel, due to a series of grants totalling eight million dollars.  At first the actors and puppets acted separately, but producers had noticed this and had everyone interacting together.  As a result, there was a lot of positive feedback from families across the world. Some of the show's famous muppets, such as Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, Bert and Ernie, the Cookie Monster, Kermit the Frog, and The Count, have entertained millions of people over the years. An adorable photo of various Sesame Street characters, such as Big Bird and Grover! Some interesting Sesame Street Facts: Ernie's Rubber Duckie 1970 song had reached number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 Big Bird is an incredible 8 feet ...
Post a Comment
Read more