Ideas on How to Become Rich - Investing in Gold Part I
Hi everyone . After sharing the investment opportunities in real estate and land resources, I would like to share some tips on the investment in gold .
I will divide my sharing in three parts:
Part I - Why is gold such a precious commodity from ancient times till today? The places in the world which contains gold and how people mine gold.
Part II - The potential of gold as a long term investment project
Part III - How to buy and sell gold with a view to profit
For the first part, I would like to discuss and share with you the reasons why gold is such a precious commodity from ancient times till today. If you take a look at statues of ancient civilisation from golden statues and tombs of Eygptian Pharaohs to Golden-bodied Buddha carved in the mountainous regions of China and parts of South East Asia, you will know that gold has been a sought after commodity for thousands of years.
The first simple reason is that it shines brighter than any other commodity and golden colour represents sunshine, glory and majesty. All the virtues of exhorting gold point to the fact that gold is so alluring and so demanded by lots of people especially women even today. In fact gold is more valuable than diamond as a precious item.
The second reason is that gold is used as a form of money exchange in ancient times for goods and services, because it is portable and easily identified by all.
Another reason is its durability as a precious metal. It is today considered as the third currency in the world after US Dollar and the Euro. Today, many governments of the world are hoarding gold as part of their treasury "insurance" - also known as reserves. This is also why gold prices have been going up these recent years because people do not have faith in currencies such as the US Dollar and Euro.
Knowing the various reasons why gold is so vital in economies and to individuals, let me now show you the places where gold can be found.
South Africa had been known to be the most important producer of gold until recently when China overtook it as the main producer of gold in the world market. The romantic allure of gold mining is that this metal is in glittering lumps and shines even in its raw state, before purification.
Two types of mining for gold. One is the open pit and the other is the underground mining. Most countries use the open mining method while in South Africa the gold is predominantly underground. Gold deposits were discovered by the Egyptians thousands of years ago and little has changed in the way it is being mined today.
Inspite of the challenges of underground mining such as high temperature, building up of gas in the mines and the possibility of earthquakes and other tremors in the underground caves, people would risk their lives for this precious commodity which can bring them prosperity and lots of wealth. It is worth the "risk in gold", like the saying. The joy of mining gold is beyond exhilaration to those who are involved, I was told.
Due to gold mining, thousands of people are gainfully employed in Africa and other less developed countries. Technology and advanced communication today enable gold mining to be much easier than in yesteryears. Though the environment for mining is hazardous and dirty, gold is still the alluring glittering metal that people would kill for.
Once the gold is mined, it is converted into dore-bars, at the mining sites. They are of variable weights and qualities of purities. There are many refineries in the world specialising in the refining and purification processes before gold can be the beautiful jewellery desired by women all over the world.
The measurement and the definition of the purity varies country to country and the gold bars are packed in different sizes due to the difference weight measurement used by countries. Nevertheless, the precious metal is still a very very vital commodity for the world economy and it is thus good for us to have some in our own treasure chest too.
Keeping gold as an ornament or as an investment project can be an exciting and interesting endeavour because it is a lasting metal and the value can only increased with time as the world is so uncertain about the fluctuations in currencies etc.
I would like to continue sharing in the part two on this topic shortly. Well, I leave you to think of the proverb, that "even Buddha needs gold dressing to look good"...
So, you see how important is it to grab a bit of this golden chance of our lifetime to make lots of money through this golden investment. I believe that gold is and will be the most important metal for years to come.
Cheers and have a bright golden day today
Sally Klaus
Ideas on How to Become Rich