It is estimated that only about 100,000 tons of gold have been mined during all of recorded history.
The rarest gem, painite, was discovered in Burma. Fewer than 10 specimens exist in the world.
The name “”turquoise”” comes from the fact that it was first brought to Europe from the Mediterranean by Levantine traders, also known as Turks.
Ancient Greeks named amber from the word electron, because rubbing amber gives off static electricity.
From 330 B.C. to A.D. 1237, most of the world’s emeralds came from Cleopatra’s mine in Egypt.
The California Gold Rush yielded 125 million ounces of gold from 1850-1875 — more than had been mined in the previous 350 years and worth more than $50 billion today.
