Main content

Elemental Business: Gold

What makes gold so valuable and why it is the only element that makes a good currency?

What makes gold so valuable, why is it golden and why is it the only elelment that makes a good currency? In chemical terms it is virtually useless. Justin Rowlatt talks to one of the world's biggest manufacturers of mobile phones about how you can recover the gold in your handset and learns how little gold there actually is. Find out more in the latest in our series examining the world economy from the perspective of the building blocks of the universe - the chemical elements.

Available now

18 minutes

Last on

Thu 5 Dec 2013 08:32GMT

Broadcast

  • Thu 5 Dec 2013 08:32GMT

Podcast