Where was gold first discovered?

The existence of gold has been known for over 5,500 years; therefore, the exact location of its discovery is unknown. Gold is a metal element that is often found with other metal elements such as silver and copper.

Gold is the most malleable metal element. It is often mixed with silver, platinum, copper or palladium to make it stronger. These mixtures are alloys and are used to make items such as jewelry.

A carat is a unit that determines the gold amount in jewelry pieces. One carat equals 1/24, which means that an 18 carat gold bracelet contains 18 parts of pure gold mixed with six parts of another metal.