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Thinking about Gold



Year by year an average of about 2,500 tons of gold comes out of the bowels of the earth and into the world's gold supply.

About half of this goes into the manufacture of jewelry. India is the Big Player there -- half of the demand for gold jewelry is Indian.

About 40% of the newly mined gold is turned itno coins and bullion bought as investments. 

Industrial uses account for the remainder.

Gold's industrial uses may be due for an increase. Gold is highly conductive. Furthermore, it doesn't tarnish. These facts are important if you're designing high-quality circuitry. 

Gold's use in industry isn't a sink into which the metal falls never to return. Indeed, there is a large (and expanding) industry that recycles old computers and trow-away cellphones and takes out the gold, which of course then becomes available for one of the other uses just mentioned. 

I'm not going anywhere with this, just thinking some matters through. 

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  1. Paul D. Van PeltJune 23, 2022 at 8:31 AM

    Fascinating fact. I would not have dreamed gold mining would continue to be lucrative. It just proves we will always have something to fight over.

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