• Question: What's gold?

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      Asked by Olivier to Angus on 20 Jun 2016.
      • Photo: Angus Cook

        Angus Cook answered on 20 Jun 2016:

        Gold is a metallic element. It’s one of the most stable elements, and unlike most other metals it can be found in almost pure form in the ground (other metals are usually found as an ore, an impure form that needs to be refined to extract the metal that you want).

        This is part of the reason that we think it’s so valuable, because it doesn’t tend to rust or tarnish, and it keeps its shine really nicely, it’s a very attractive metal.

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