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

Hippopotamus means river horse in the Greek language!

Did you know that Hippopotamus means river horse in the Greek language?  The Greeks choose this name since these enormous animals can spend 16 hours a day in lakes, rivers, or swamps. A group of playful hippopotamuses in the river Some more interesting Hippopotamus trivia facts: Hippopotamuses can weigh up to 4 tons and feed mainly on grass, fallen fruit, and sugar cane.  They are the 3rd largest land mammal after the elephant and white rhinoceros. If threatened, hippopotamuses can easily outrun a human at 19 miles per hour, in spite of their chubby appearance.   Hippopotamuses produces loud noises that can be heard for several miles and sounds like roaring lions! The Swahili name for a hippopotamus is Kiboko. The gestation period for a female hippopotamus is 240 days. Hippopotamus amphibius is the scientific name for the Hippopotamus. They are thought as one of the most deadliest animals in Africa, since approximately 3,000 people are killed a...
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

Mickey Mouse is known as Topolino in Italy!

Did you know that Mickey Mouse is known as Topolino in Italy? He also goes by Mikki Hirri in Finland, Mikki Mausu in Japan, and Michel Souris in France! Mickey Mouse was originally going to be called Mortimer Mouse, but Walt Disney's wife, Lillian, had insisted on the name, Mickey.  The official switch from Mortimer to Mickey took place on November 18, 1928. Mickey Rooney, famous American actor who starred in more than 300 films, felt that Walt Disney had named Mickey Mouse after him, since he had met Disney in the 1920's as a boy. The first Mickey Mouse cartoon was Plane Crazy and the first with synchronized sound was Steamboat Willie, both produced in 1928.  Steamboat Willie was a short black and white film produced by Walt Disney Studios and directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. Mickey Mouse's ears are perfect circles and he was the first cartoon character to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Mickey's first recorded words were Hot Dogs in the car...
Post a Comment
Read more