Uses of Gold

The winter of 1979-80 has been particularly hard on an old prospector friend of mine. It isn't the cold that bothers, it's the news about the price of gold that is tearing him up.

Each new report of higher gold prices is more likely to drive him into a temporary trance. His eyes glaze, his jaw sets, and he hunkers down on his haunches. Simultaneously, his arms bend at the elbows and his hands come up clasping an imaginary gold pan. He swirls it around a few times, then usually wakes up and again becomes more or less rational.

But these days, all he can think and talk about is gold. He points out that if all of the world's mined gold supply were put into a single cube, the cube would only be 40 feet (12 m) on a side. That supply is being added to each year at the rate of about 50 million troy ounces (equal to a cube about 15 feet on a side).

It makes my prospector friend happy that the limited supply gold has many other uses than as a medium of exchange and for jewelry. He figures that these other uses will help keep supply short and price up.

The space age has brought new demand for gold to filter out the intense solar radiation that exists outside the earth's atmosphere. Thin layers of gold on astronaut's visors protect eyes from both ultraviolet and infrared solar radiation. Gold coatings on spacecraft also help keep temperatures low inside the vehicle. Gold's resistance to corrosion in space leads to its use in coating bearings, thereby overcoming serious mechanical problems that plagued some early satellites having exposed moving parts.

The manufacture of high-pressure seals, reflective window glass and electronic components all utilize gold. Gold is reliable because of its corrosion resistance, its strength and its workability. Consequently gold is in high demand, especially in the rapidly expanding electronics industry.

Fifteen percent of all gold consumed in the United States is for teeth fillings and dental bridgework. Finely divided radioactive gold also has medical use in the treatment of arthritis. This use especially pleases my prospector friend when he is feeling the effects of too many hours standing in the creeks.