Gold has a long history in human civilization and has largely maintains its function as a basis of monetary valuation. In many early civilizations such as the ancient Egyptians, the archaic Greeks and the Roman Empire, gold has found its uses as monetary value in the forms of coins, jewelries and artifacts. Although gold is no longer directly convertible with currencies following the Bretton Woods agreement after World War Two, it is still valued as a hedge against inflation and as a store of value for many people in the world.

Gold is also the most malleable and ductile of all metal elements, which means it can be easily stretched into wires or be hammered and rolled into sheets. Gold can also be easily combined with other metals to form harder alloys for a variety of useful deployments. These properties have enabled gold to find its way into many industrial applications including the fields of electronics, communications and medical equipments. These includes connectors in electronic cables, outer coating for satellites, race cars and airplanes.

However, the bulk of modern gold production continues to be channeled into satisfying gold’s primarily use as a store of value. About half of all new gold mined today is used for making gold jewelries, 40% is kept as investment assets and only 10% see its way into industrial applications. India is the world’s top gold consuming country with the bulk of its gold imports being channeled into making jewelries. As a result of its main use as a store of value, gold is frequently recovered and recycled. It is estimated that about 85% of the world’s gold stock is kept as easily recoverable assets.

Major gold producing countries in the world include South Africa, China, Australia, United States, Peru, Russia, Canada, Mali, Uzbekistan and Ghana. In particular, South Africa is far and away the most important of all gold producers; it is estimated that about half of all gold ever mined in human history originated from South Africa’s gold mines. In fact, the city of Johannesburg in South Africa was found largely because of the gold industry.