Topics
Gold, by subject
Desks describe who reports a story. Topics describe what it is about. Each hub below collects the reporting and the reference definitions for one subject in one place.
4 pieces
The gold standard
How gold became money, how the link to currency was broken, and what survived the break.
3 pieces
Central-bank reserves
Official-sector buying, repatriation and the reserve-management logic behind it.
7 pieces
Refining and assay
How doré becomes four-nines bullion, and how purity is proven rather than asserted.
4 pieces
Mining economics
Grade, cut-off, all-in sustaining cost, and what happens when the orebody is finished.
3 pieces
Recycling and recovery
Scrap jewellery, electronic waste and the second supply chain that never leaves the surface.
8 pieces
Price and market structure
Who sets the gold price, where it clears, and how physical demand feeds into it.
6 pieces
Goldsmithing and craft
Alloys, the bench, and why almost nothing you wear is pure gold.
5 pieces
The science of gold
Where element 79 comes from, why it is inert, and what it does in medicine and electronics.