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.
7 pieces
The gold standard
How gold became money, how the link to currency was broken, and what survived the break.
6 pieces
Central-bank reserves
Official-sector buying, repatriation and the reserve-management logic behind it.
8 pieces
Refining and assay
How doré becomes four-nines bullion, and how purity is proven rather than asserted.
6 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.
14 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.