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It takes a few reason to understand this completely. First gold and gold oxide have very nearly the same free energy. This means that to make gold oxide gives you almost no free energy as a biproduct. Most elements have massive free energies when it comes to oxidation. It is this free energy that drives things to become compounds. Second gold has a very high activation energy. This means if you want gold to react you have to make it very hot indeed. Gold will melt before it will oxidize. So gold likes to stay as whatever is it. It is called being stable. Third if you have magma (molten rock underground) all the metals are already up near their activation energy and are all mixed together. When things start to cool off a metal like Iron Silver Zinc Copper says 'Gee I'd really really really really like to become an oxide and I'll give anybody else all the free energy that I have to get there'. The neighbouring Gold says 'Well I don't really care so I'll suck up whatever energy you want to give away and stay a metal.' And of course once Gold is a metal it takes a lot to make it change.

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