Almost all world trade is made of gold ingots, weighing about 12.5 kg and with a purity of 99.5%.The unit of exchange is the troy ounces and the carat is used to measure the purity. According to these standards is 24 carat pure gold, +100% ie 24/24. Pure gold is 50% 12/24 or as shown as gold 12 carat gold. The gold is very soft and therefore can not be used in its pure state. It is usually alloyed with other metals: copper, zinc, silver and nickel.

About 80% of world production is concentrated in just two countries: South Africa and Russia. The use of gold industry accounts for less than 10% of total production and covers applications in electrical and electronic equipment.

Makes as well in jewelry, gold being a soft metal, is associated with other metals for durability. The relationship between the amount of gold and other metals in the alloy is called title (expressed in thousands/gram). The most commonly used alloys are:

• yellow gold: alloyed with silver and copper;
• pale yellow gold: copper alloy with very little silver;
• rose gold: alloyed with copper and very little silver;
• red gold: alloyed with copper;
• white gold: alloyed with palladium;
• green gold: alloyed with silver;
• lilac gold: alloyed with aluminum;
• blue gold: alloyed with cobalt.

The carat is the unit of measure that corresponds to 41.6 thousandths of a gram of gold in the alloy. The titles commonly used in jewelry are:

• 08 karat = 333 thousandths of a gram
• 12 karat = 500 thousandths of a gram
• 14 karat = 585 thousandths of a gram
• 18 karat = 750 thousandths of a gram
• 22 karat = 916 thousandths of a gram
• 24 karat = 999 thousandths of a gram

The title is the most widely used 18-carat (especially in Italy), but the bullion held by banks is also 24 carat.

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