About Gold

Facts About Gold:




It has been estimated that all the gold in the world that has ever been refined would form a single cube 20 m (66 ft) a side.

75% of all gold ever produced has been extracted since 1910.

A cubic foot (30 cm.) block of gold =500 kilos or half a ton.

Carats are a purity grade mostly used by gold diggers and jewellers. It is a rough guide as to how pure the gold is. There are 24 carats in pure gold or as pure as you can get because there is no such thing as pure gold. Therefore 12 carat gold refers to a metal that is composed of half gold. You can make any purity you want. The most popular is 18 carat meaning three quarters gold composition. A mixture of silver and copper in the gold will highlight its colour. Too much silver will give a green tinge. Green is the opposite colour to gold on the colour spectrum and collectively large amounts of gold will give off a green aura. Too much copper will give a red tinge (rose gold) and the addition of even a little Nickel will overpower the colour of gold to silver, hence white gold is made.

Fineness is a purity scale used by bullion dealers some diggers and international traders. Fineness equals parts per thousand and different countries have different standards. England is 995 fine and Australia is 999 fine. In other words we guarantee our gold bullion to have been refined to 999 parts gold per thousand.

e.g. 999 fine = 24 carat = all gold, 750 fine = 18 carat = three quarters gold and 500 fine = 12 carat = half gold. Unfortunately the word carat also equals the weight of a gemstone, e.g. a one carat diamond stone equals a gemstone that weighs 200 milligrams.

Gold is the oldest precious metal known to man. Therefore, it is a timely

subject for several reasons. It is the opinion of the more objective market

experts that the traditional investment vehicles of stocks and bonds are in

the areas of their all-time highs and may be due for a severe correction.



To fully appreciate why 8,000 years of experience say " gold is forever", we

should review why the world reveres what England's most famous economist,

John Maynard Keynes, cynically called the "barbarous relic."



Why gold is "good as gold" is an intriguing question. However, we think that

the more pragmatic ancient Egyptians were perhaps more accurate in observing

that gold's value was a function of its pleasing physical characteristics

and its scarcity.



Gold is primarily a monetary asset and partly a commodity.

More than two thirds of gold's total accumulated holdings account as

'value for investment' with central bank reserves, private players and

high-carat Jewellery.



Less than one third of gold's total accumulated holdings is as a

'commodity' for Jewellery in Western markets and usage in industry.



The Gold market is highly liquid and gold held by central banks, other

major institutions and retail Jewellery keep coming back to the market.



Due to large stocks of Gold as against its demand, it is argued that

the core driver of the real price of gold is stock equilibrium rather than

flow equilibrium.



Economic forces that determine the price of gold are different from,

and in many cases opposed to the forces that influence most financial

assets.



South Africa is the world's largest gold producer with 394 tons in

2001, followed by US and Australia.



India is the world's largest gold consumer with an annual demand of 800

tons.

World Gold Markets

London as the great clearing house

New York as the home of futures trading

Zurich as a physical turntable

Istanbul, Dubai, Singapore and Hong Kong as doorways to important

consuming regions



Tokyo where TOCOM sets the mood of Japan

Mumbai under India's liberalized gold regime

(Rounded Figures) India (In Tons) World (In Tons) % Share

Total Stocks 13000 145000 9

Central Bank holding 400 28000 1.4

Annual Production 2 2600 0.08

Annual Recycling 100-300 1100-1200 13

Annual Demand 800 3700 22

Annual Imports 600 --- ---

Annual Exports 60