Gold  was  among the first metals to  be  mined  because it  commonly occurs in its  native form , that  is ,not combined with  other elements, because it is  beautiful  and imperishable, and because exquisite  objects can be made  from it. Artisans of ancient civilizations used  gold  lavishly in decorating tombs  and  temples, and  gold objects made  more than  5,000 years ago have been found in  Egypt. The ancient civilizations appear to have  obtained their supplies of  gold  from various deposets  in the Middle East . Mines in the  region of  the Upper Nile near  the  Red  sea  and in the Nubian Desert  area supplied much  of the  gold used  by the Egyptian pharaohs. When these mines could no longer meet their demands  deposits  elsewhere ,possibly in yemen and  southern Africa, were exploited .

                 Gold is relatively scarce in the  earth , but it occurs in many different kinds of  rocks and in many different  geological  environments . Though scarce, gold is  concentrated by  geologic  processes to  form  commercial  deposits of  two  principal  types .

                    One widely  accepted  hypothesis proposes  that  many  gold  deposits ,  especially  those  found in  volcanic  and  sedimentary  tocks ,  formed  circulating  ground waters driven  by  heat from  bodies of  magma (molten rock)  intruded into  the Earth's crust  within  about 2 to 5 miles of  the  surface. Active  geothermal  systems , which ate exploited in parts of the United  States for natural hot water  and  steam, provide a modern  analog for  these  gold-depositing  systems. Most  of  the  water in geothermal  systems  originates as  rainfall,  which moves  downward through fractures and  permeable beds in cooler  parts  of  the  crust  and is  drawn  laterally  into  areas  heated  by  magma,  where  it  is  driven  upward  through  fractures. As  the   water is  heated , it dissolves  metals  from the  surrounding rocks . When  the  heated  water teach  cooler tocks  at  shallower  depths ,  metallic minerals  precipitate  to  form  veins  or  blanket-like  ore  bodies. Another  hypothesis  suggests  that  gold -bearing solutions may  be expelled from magma  as   it cools, precipitating  ore materials  as  they  move  into  cooler  surrounding  rocks .  This  hypothesis is  applied  particularly  to  gold  deposits  located  in or near  masses of  granitic  rock,  which represent  solidified magma.

                 National  of   the  world  today ,  use  gold  as  medium  of  exchange  in  monetary  transactions. Aside  from  monetary  uses , gold  is  used  in  jewellery  and  alliedwares, electrical-electronic applications, dentistry,  the  aircraft- aerospace  industry ,the  arts, and  medical  and  chemical  fields...................................................................