There's some in your house right now.

In 2000 Martha Mine produced 103,784 oz of gold valued at NZ$57.4 million and 804,251 oz of silver valued at NZ8.8 million. Why is gold and silver so special? Where does all this gold and silver go after it is mined? What is it used for?

We know there's lots of gold and silver in banks, and we've seen pictures of expensive gold jewellery. But did you know that we rely on gold and silver every day?

So what's so special about gold and silver?

• Gold and silver are very good conductors of electricity and heat.
• Both can be alloyed (mixed) with other metals to produce new materials.
• Gold and silver are malleable—they are easily shaped, and very ductile—they can be stretched out into very thin wires.
• Gold and silver do not chip, flake or corrode.

Where's the gold and silver at your house? Gold and silver are used in electronic circuits. It is likely that your television and your computer have gold circuits in them, probably your Play Station too. Don't bother pulling them apart though, there will only be a tiny amount of gold or silver, probably in wires thinner than your hair, or in very small printed circuits.

Stereo systems sometimes use gold plated interconnect cables. The gold provides a better contact, and so a better sound.

There could be some silver on your wrist right now, or it could be disguised and hanging around your neck. No, not jewellery. The button batteries used in digital watches contain silver. So do the films in cameras. In fact photography accounts for 35% of the silver used throughout the world.

Silver is also used in some water filters, and although it may seem strange, it is also used in the production of some man made fabrics. You could be wearing small amounts of silver right now.

Gold is used by dentists to make crowns for teeth, and if you have an x-ray at the dentist the film used will have silver in it. If you end up in hospital at some time you will find lots of gold and silver there too. Burn creams contain silver, gold leaf is used to treat some ulcers, and those special surgical lasers will use gold and silver.

Need glasses? Photochromatic lenses - those are the ones which go darker when the sun gets brighter - contain gold.

Gold and silver are in many places in your everyday life - often where you least expect them.

Who would have thought that at the very top of the Auckland Sky Tower there is a gold plated ball. It's there so that if the tower gets struck by lightning the electricity will strike the ball and be conducted safely to the ground.

You can find out more about these precious metals by clicking on these links:

gold

silver