This is primarily an educational programme, interesting rather than fascinating. Well, fascinating too in parts. Gold has of course fascinated Man from virtually year dot. It is used not only as hard currency and for making jewellery but is the most malleable of all metals, which means it has special uses in chemistry and other fields. The focus here though is on the production of gold, getting it out of the ground by mining, or out of the water by panning.
Around one tenth of all the gold ever produced has been mined or otherwise extracted in California and Nevada. We explore the gold rush of 1849, caves, mines, and the latest techniques of finding and extracting it. One of the contributors to "America's Gold" is a geologist, the aptly named Richard Goldfarb.
Like all other heavy metals, gold was born in the stars; because it is an element it cannot be manufactured, in practice at least, which means if we want it, we will have to keep extracting it from the Earth. In all human history only around 160,000 tons of the stuff have been produced; there is though, plenty more where that came from.
Around one tenth of all the gold ever produced has been mined or otherwise extracted in California and Nevada. We explore the gold rush of 1849, caves, mines, and the latest techniques of finding and extracting it. One of the contributors to "America's Gold" is a geologist, the aptly named Richard Goldfarb.
Like all other heavy metals, gold was born in the stars; because it is an element it cannot be manufactured, in practice at least, which means if we want it, we will have to keep extracting it from the Earth. In all human history only around 160,000 tons of the stuff have been produced; there is though, plenty more where that came from.
