Through the ages men and women have cherished gold, and many have had a compelling desire to amass great quantities of it. Gold was one of 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.

Until recent times, gold was considered essentially a monetary metal, and most of the bullion produced each year went into the vaults of government treasuries or central banks. Nations of the world today continue to use gold as a medium of exchange in monetary transactions, but because it is the most malleable and ductile of all metals, has no oxides, is the only metal not affected by the oxygen in the atmosphere and because of its superior electrical conductivity and resistance to corrosion and other desirable combinations of physical and chemical properties; today gold has become an essential industrial metal. Gold is used in allied wares, electrical-electronic applications, dentistry, the aircraft-aerospace industry, the arts and medical and chemical fields; however, jewellery fabrication is the crucial cornerstone of the gold market, annually consuming all gold that is newly mined. In the industrial countries gold jewellery is primarily a fashion item, but in the Middle East and much of Asia gold jewellery is seen equally as an investment.

Of the 112 elements that make up the earth's crust, the eight most common elements account for more than 98%; in order of abundance gold ranks 80th. Gold is relatively scarce in the earth, but it occurs in many different kinds of rock and in many different geological environments. Though scarce, gold is concentrated by geological processes to form commercial deposits of two principal types: primary (lode and disseminated) deposits and secondary (placer) deposits.

Primary deposits are the targets of prospectors seeking metals at their source in '"hardrock". Geologists have proposed various hypotheses to explain how primary deposits are formed but most generally agree that primary deposits are formed when water under intense heat and pressure containing a solution of dissolved metals is carried upward to the surface of the earth through fractures in the earth's crust precipitating ore materials as pressures and temperatures decrease thereby forming deposits.

In lode deposits the metals have been concentrated in rock in the form of high grade veins. In disseminated deposits the metals have been widely distributed throughout a large volume of rock. Improvements during the last several decades in exploration techniques, extraction methods and mineral processing engineering have made it possible to work lower grade deposits at a profit, as a result, low grade disseminated deposits have become increasingly important.

Placer gold deposits represent concentrations of gold weathered and eroded from primary deposits. Gold is extremely resistant to weathering and when freed from enclosing rocks, is carried downstream as metallic particles consisting of dust, flakes, grains or nuggets. Prospectors look for concentrations of metal particles, that is, placer deposits, where coarse sands and gravel have accumulated.

In 2007, world gold production was dominated by China, South Africa, the United States, Australia, Indonesia and Peru. These nations produced approximately 57% of global output. Total historical world production is thought to be around 3.4 billion troy ounces, of which about three-quarters has been produced since the colonisation of the Americas by Europeans and two-thirds produced in the last 50 years. Of this total, about 64% is privately held as bullion, coin and jewellery, about 21% lies in the vaults of central banks and other institutions and about 15% is thought to have been lost or otherwise unrecoverable or unaccounted for.

Copper has been mined and used for well over 10,000 years. The Island of Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean was a major source of copper for the ancient world. The word "copper" originates from the Roman name for Cyprian metal - cuprum. The abbreviation of cuprum and the symbol on the Periodic Chart of Elements is Cu.

Copper, one of the oldest metals used, has been important throughout the development of civilization and it continues to play a crucial role in our global economy today. Copper consumption continues to grow - due in part to its physical properties of high ductility, malleability, thermal and electrical conductivity, and resistance to corrosion. It is a major industrial metal ranking third after iron and aluminum in terms of quantities consumed.

Building construction is the single largest market accounting for about 46% of total copper use, followed by electronics and electronic products (23%), transportation equipment (10%), industrial machinery and equipment (10%) and consumer and general products (11%). Copper is also used in power stations and deep-sea oil platforms as it can withstand extreme environments, and is non-magnetic and corrosion-resistant. Copper byproducts from manufacturing and obsolete copper products are readily recycled and contribute significantly to copper supply.

Copper is primarily found in minerals associated with sulfur or in the oxidized products of these minerals. Copper easily combines with a number of other elements and ions to form a wide variety of copper minerals and ores. Large deposits, relatively close to the surface are amenable to relatively low cost bulk mining methods.

Known worldwide resources of this important and valuable metal are estimated at nearly 5.8 trillion pounds of which only about 0.7 trillion (12%) have been mined throughout history. Nearly all of that 0.7 trillion (or 700 billion) pounds is still in circulation because copper's recycling rate is higher than that of any other engineering metal. Almost half of all recycled copper scrap is old post-consumer scrap, such as discarded electric cable, junked automobile radiators and air conditioners. The remainder is new scrap, such as chips and turnings from screw machine production.

In 2007, the largest producers of copper ore were Chile, the United States, Mexico, China, Australia, Indonesia and Russia. Many producing regions ship the ore elsewhere or smelt it without refining. Considerable amounts of ore and unrefined copper are processed in Japan, Peru, and Serbia.

Chromite ore is mined to produce chromium, a key component in stainless steel production. Chromium is alloyed with steel to make it corrosion resistant or harder. Chromium is also used to make heat-resisting steel. So-called "superalloys" use chromium and have strategic military applications. Chromium also has some use in the manufacture of certain chemicals and in the textiles industries. There is no good alternative for chromium in the manufacture of steel or chromium chemicals.

In the western hemisphere, chromite ore is produced only in Brazil and Cuba with modest production by only one company in the United States, in Oregon. (The Stillwater Complex in Montana is the biggest chromium deposit in the United States, however, it is not producing chromite ore at this time (Y2006/2007)). By comparison, in 2006 approximately 80% of world production of chromite came from South Africa, India, Kazakhstan and Turkey. South Africa itself produces about half of this.

The supply demand fundamentals for ferrochrome are highly positive with supply shortages envisaged for the next 10 years. Stainless steel demand is projected to grow by just under 6% per annum to 2020 with ferrochrome demand growth slightly lower, at 5.2% per annum, because of the impact of recycling. Heinz Pariser Research is forecasting average ferrochrome price of 79 cents per pound (US$1600/t) to 2017.

Commodities Research Unit's data for a stainless steel presentation prepared by Xstrata gives a similarly expansive forecast for demand and the big three iron ore producers (BHP, Rio Tinto and CVRD) are reported to be factoring expansion into their mining and infrastructure planning for at least the next three years.