.7" Native Gold Formation in Quartz - Morocco

Gold (Au) is one of the most highly prized and widely used elements known to man. It is used in the production of jewelry, coin currency, electronics, dentistry, computers, pigments, optics, and medicine, with a wide variety of additional applications. It occurs naturally as elemental (native) gold within rocks, hydrothermal veins, and alluvial deposits, ranging in size from microscopic grains to massive nuggets depending on deposition conditions. Often it is naturally alloyed with other minerals, requiring mechanical and chemical processes to refine.

Trace amounts of gold can be found nearly everywhere throughout the lithosphere, but large deposits are only found in select locations around the world. China is by far the world's largest gold producer, producing over 400 tons of gold annually. Other countries that produce significant amounts of gold include Canada, the United States, Mexico, Peru, Russia, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, Ghana, and Australia.