Gold is a
chemical element with symbol
Au (from ) and
atomic number 79. In its purest form, it is a bright, slightly reddish yellow, dense, soft,
malleable and
ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a
transition metal and a
group 11 element. It is one of the least reactive chemical elements, and is solid under
standard conditions. The metal therefore occurs often in free elemental (native) form, as
nuggets or grains, in
rocks, in
veins and in
alluvial deposits. It occurs in a
solid solution series with the native element
silver (as
electrum) and also naturally
alloyed with
copper and
palladium. Less commonly, it occurs in minerals as gold compounds, often with
tellurium (
gold tellurides).