The History Desk
The monetary history of gold
Five thousand years of ledgers, coinage, treaties and broken promises — reported as history, not folklore.
2 stories
The Desks
Five desks, one metal.
Every story we publish is owned by a desk with its own sourcing standards. Start where your question lives.
The Industry Desk
Refining, assay and the physical chain
What happens between a doré bar and a Good Delivery brick — chlorination, electrolysis, assay tolerances and chain-of-custody.
6 stories
The Markets Desk
Reserves, repatriation and the price of gold
Central bank buying, vault geography, ETF flows and the plumbing under the spot price — covered without forecasts.
4 stories
The Craft Desk
Goldsmithing and the working of the metal
Alloys, karatage, hand-raising, casting and the workshop economics of making objects that outlive their makers.
3 stories
The Mining Desk
Extraction, artisanal supply and its costs
Deep shafts and hand-dug pits: grades, mercury amalgamation, formalisation schemes and the people at the bottom of the supply chain.
2 stories
The Science Desk
The physics and chemistry of element 79
Where gold is manufactured, why it behaves as it does, and how the laboratory answers questions the market only argues about.
3 stories