What is the chemistry of gold?
Gold is an element with the symbol Au and atomic number 79. Its symbol is Au is dervied from the greek word "Aurum", which means glow of sunshine. The English word gold comes from the words gulb and ghel referring also to the color. The melting point of gold 1,948°F (1,064°C) and its Boiling point is 5,173°F (2,856°C). The atomic mass of gold is 196.96657 ± 0.00004 u. The density of gold is 19.30 g cm-3.
Why is gold so special?
Sanat Kumar, the Chair of Chemical Engineering at Columbia University gives succinct arguments on a NPR interview why Gold is a so special. Basically he argues that gold like other precious metals rhodium, palladium, silver and platinum is "not a gas", "does not corrode or burst into flame upon contact with air", "is not toxic" and "rare but NOT too rare". But gold stands out among them at least for ancient humans because there are flaws with others; silver tarnishes, rhodium and palladium were not discovered until the eighteenth century, and platinum has a higher melting point - 3,215°F vs. 1,948°F for gold.
What is the annual gold demand?
According to the World Gold Council, gold demand in 2013 was 4,081 tons. Of that ~60% was absorbed by jewelers, ~20% investors (bars, coins and ETFs), ~10% each by Central Bankers and by Technology - dentistry absorbed ~1% of gold demand.
With respect to countries, China had the biggest demand in 2013 (1,065 tons) followed by India (975), US (190), Turkey (175), Germany (121) and Vietnam (92).
What is the annul supply of gold?
In 2013, 2,770 tons of gold were produced. China was the largest producer (420 tons) followed by Australia (255), US (227) and Russia (220).
The privately-owned gold miners are Barrick Gold, Newmonth Mining, AngloGold, Goldcorp, Kinross, Newcrest Mining, Gold Fields, Polyus Gold, Yamana and Eldorado.
What is the stock/inventory of gold?
Central Banks are the most visible holders of gold. The US is the largest official holder of gold (8,133 tons) followed by Germany (3,387), IMF (2,814), Italy (2,451), France (2,435) and China (1,054).
In the US, Federal Reserve Bank of New York holds the most gold, 530,000 gold bars or 6,700 tons.
What s the marginal cost of producing or cash cost curve of gold?
This is not readily available because this is proprietary data for gold producers. According to zerohedge.com, in 2013 marginal cost of production (at 90th percentile) was $1,104/oz while average cost was $673/oz.
What s the marginal cost of producing or cash cost curve of gold?
This is not readily available because this is proprietary data for gold producers. According to zerohedge.com, in 2013 marginal cost of production (at 90th percentile) was $1,104/oz while average cost was $673/oz.
References
Academic Paper - Some Evidence on the Real Price of Gold, Its Costs of Production, and Commodity Prices
World Gold Council
World Gold Council
