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Guide

Explore the Elements: Gold

Explore the Elements: Gold

Gold is prized far beyond jewellery and finance, with growing use in electronics and photovoltaics. Because so little exists in the crust, its per-kilogram footprint is high. This guide introduces gold's deposits, extraction routes, market structure and the role of LCA.

Gold is prized far beyond jewellery and finance, with growing use in electronics and photovoltaics. Because so little exists in the crust, its per-kilogram footprint is high. This guide introduces gold's deposits, extraction routes, market structure and the role of LCA.

Sahin Alacacayir

Sahin Alacacayir

IN SUMMARY

Understanding gold, beyond jewellery and finance

Understanding gold, beyond jewellery and finance

Gold is a dense, yellow metal that is conductive, non-corrosive and highly malleable, valued throughout history for its chemical stability and appeal. Its uses span finance, jewellery, electronics, medicine and dentistry, and increasingly new-generation photovoltaics. Gold is scarce in the Earth's crust and accumulates in placer and lode deposits, with South Africa, Australia, the US and Russia among the major producers, and like platinum group metals it is often mined alongside copper and silver. That scarcity means a large processing effort per kilogram, and a correspondingly high environmental footprint. This guide, part of Minviro's "Explore the Elements" series, introduces gold's deposits, extraction routes, market structure and the role of LCA.

  • Gold is more than an investment metal. Alongside jewellery (around 52% of demand) and bar, coin and central-bank investment, its conductivity, tarnish resistance and malleability make it valuable in electronics (connectors, switches, circuit boards), medicine, dentistry and photovoltaics.

  • A quarter of supply is already recycled. Over a recent ten-year average, total annual gold supply was about 4,653 tonnes, of which roughly 75% came from mining and 25% from recycled gold.

  • Rarity drives a high footprint. Because gold is so scarce in the crust, far more energy, chemicals and consumables are needed per kilogram than for more abundant metals, which is why LCA, and process efficiency, matter so much.

What makes gold valuable, then and now

Gold (symbol Au, atomic number 79) is a dense, yellow metal that is conductive, non-corrosive and highly malleable, and its chemical stability and aesthetic appeal have made it prized across human history, with records of Egyptians enriching gold from the Nile as early as the 5th millennium BC. In the ancient world the primary source was alluvial deposits worked by gravity separation, a principle still used today, where eroded gold settles and is captured in traps; hard-rock cyanide leaching for gold, silver and copper emerged in the late 19th century. Today gold's rarity and intrinsic value make it both a secure investment asset and a sought-after jewellery material, while its conductivity and resistance to tarnish make it ideal for electronics, where it appears in connectors, switches and printed circuit boards. Its malleability and softness allow it to be shaped for many uses, and it is also widely used in medicine, dentistry and new-generation photovoltaic cells.

Market structure and supply chain

Gold has a complex supply chain, often tied to other metal sources, and is driven by a mix of jewellery, investment and technology demand. Over a recent ten-year average, total annual demand was around 4,653 tonnes, with jewellery the largest share at about 52% (roughly 2,222 tonnes), bar and coin at 26%, central banks at 13%, technology at 8%, and ETFs and similar products at 2%. Supply over the same period averaged 4,653 tonnes a year, split about 75% from mining and 25% from recycled gold, a recycling share that already stands out among metals. The market is influenced heavily by global economic conditions such as inflation and geopolitical dynamics, and because production is geographically concentrated in regions including China and Russia, the industry faces ongoing pricing and security challenges. The supply chain runs from exploration and mining through refining, bullion trade and financial products to fabrication, distribution, use and recycling.

Ore types and extraction routes

Gold occurs across a wide range of concentrations and deposit types, which means different processing flowsheets for each. Free-milling ore, one of the most common, contains gold particles that can be liberated by crushing and then concentrated by gravity separation before refining into doré (unrefined gold, usually with some silver). Porphyry gold-copper ore is large-scale but low-grade, processed by crushing and grinding, then froth flotation and refining. Orogenic ore, formed in tectonically active regions and associated with vein structures, is liberated by crushing and grinding and concentrated using gravity separators like shaking tables and jigs. Refractory ore locks gold within sulphide minerals such as arsenopyrite and pyrite, so it needs an oxidation step, bio-oxidation, autoclave or roasting, before conventional leaching. Iron oxide-copper-gold ore, also large-scale and low-grade, uses magnetic separation to remove iron oxides before flotation and refining into copper and gold bullion. Across these routes, leaching (typically cyanidation) and recovery steps like carbon adsorption produce the final refined gold.

Gold occurs across a wide range of concentrations and deposit types, which means different processing flowsheets for each. Free-milling ore, one of the most common, contains gold particles that can be liberated by crushing and then concentrated by gravity separation before refining into doré (unrefined gold, usually with some silver). Porphyry gold-copper ore is large-scale but low-grade, processed by crushing and grinding, then froth flotation and refining. Orogenic ore, formed in tectonically active regions and associated with vein structures, is liberated by crushing and grinding and concentrated using gravity separators like shaking tables and jigs. Refractory ore locks gold within sulphide minerals such as arsenopyrite and pyrite, so it needs an oxidation step, bio-oxidation, autoclave or roasting, before conventional leaching. Iron oxide-copper-gold ore, also large-scale and low-grade, uses magnetic separation to remove iron oxides before flotation and refining into copper and gold bullion. Across these routes, leaching (typically cyanidation) and recovery steps like carbon adsorption produce the final refined gold.

Why LCA matters for gold

Gold mining, processing and refining carry significant environmental impacts, driven by the sheer processing required to produce a single kilogram of gold, which is the typical functional unit in an LCA. Compared with the more abundant metals it is found alongside, gold demands far more energy, chemicals, fuel and consumables per kilogram, precisely because it is so rare in the crust. A granular LCA quantifies both the direct emissions from the process and the embodied impacts of the energy, chemicals, raw materials and transport involved, the latter being especially important for reagent- and energy-heavy routes like gold. That high impact also means there is substantial scope to reduce it through meaningful process efficiency improvements, and the sector is well placed to make those changes as regulatory pressure grows. LCA is increasingly recognised as the most robust way to compare the environmental performance of different production routes, identifying the hotspots in gold supply chains and guiding data-driven improvements, while ensuring that efforts to cut emissions in one place do not simply shift them elsewhere.

Gold mining, processing and refining carry significant environmental impacts, driven by the sheer processing required to produce a single kilogram of gold, which is the typical functional unit in an LCA. Compared with the more abundant metals it is found alongside, gold demands far more energy, chemicals, fuel and consumables per kilogram, precisely because it is so rare in the crust. A granular LCA quantifies both the direct emissions from the process and the embodied impacts of the energy, chemicals, raw materials and transport involved, the latter being especially important for reagent- and energy-heavy routes like gold. That high impact also means there is substantial scope to reduce it through meaningful process efficiency improvements, and the sector is well placed to make those changes as regulatory pressure grows. LCA is increasingly recognised as the most robust way to compare the environmental performance of different production routes, identifying the hotspots in gold supply chains and guiding data-driven improvements, while ensuring that efforts to cut emissions in one place do not simply shift them elsewhere.

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Sahin Alacacayir

Sahin Alacacayir

Sustainability scientist

At Minviro, Sahin is responsible for various academic and industrial research projects, including UK and EU grants and commercial collaborations. He integrates raw material sustainability and recycling impact databases with Minviro's technology solutions, and leads projects investigating decarbonisation technology applications including photovoltaics, semiconductors, and electric motors. He completed his MSc in Mining Environmental Management at the Camborne School of Mines, where he studied ecotoxicity and climate change impacts of acid mine drainage from legacy mine wastes. He has significant experience working with gold extraction prior to joining Minviro.

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Sahin Alacacayir

Sahin Alacacayir

Sustainability scientist

At Minviro, Sahin is responsible for various academic and industrial research projects, including UK and EU grants and commercial collaborations. He integrates raw material sustainability and recycling impact databases with Minviro's technology solutions, and leads projects investigating decarbonisation technology applications including photovoltaics, semiconductors, and electric motors. He completed his MSc in Mining Environmental Management at the Camborne School of Mines, where he studied ecotoxicity and climate change impacts of acid mine drainage from legacy mine wastes. He has significant experience working with gold extraction prior to joining Minviro.

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