Gold

Gold is a refined metal used for advanced manufacturing and decoration-focused construction. It can be obtained by refining Gold Amalgam, by raising Smooth Hatches that eat Gold Amalgam, or by crushing Gold Amalgam in a Rock Crusher. It also appears in some Space Biome meteor showers, can be found in the Gilded Asteroid, and can be harvested from renewable space points of interest in Gilded Asteroid Fields.

The most efficient source is the Metal Refinery, which converts Gold Amalgam into Gold at 100% efficiency, producing 100 kg Gold from 100 kg Gold Amalgam. A Smooth Hatch yields Gold at around 75% efficiency and requires no power or heat input, making it a useful passive source if ranching is already part of the colony economy. The Rock Crusher can also process Gold Amalgam, but only at 50% efficiency, yielding 50 kg Gold and 50 kg Sand from 100 kg Gold Amalgam.

Gold has several important late-game uses beyond being a refined metal. It is used in the Molecular Forge to produce Super Coolant, in the Bleach Stone Hopper to produce Bleach Stone, and in the Oxylite Refinery to produce Oxylite. Its specific recipes are:

• 1 kg Fullerene + 49.5 kg Gold + 49.5 kg Petroleum = 100 kg Super Coolant
• 30 kg Salt + 500 g Gold = 10 kg Bleach Stone + 20 kg Sand
• 600 g/s Oxygen + 3 g/s Gold = 600 g/s Oxylite

Because Gold has a +50% decor bonus, it is especially valuable for buildings where decor matters. It is a strong choice for advanced power systems that normally carry heavy decor penalties. Heavi-Watt Conductive Wire made from Gold has a much smaller decor penalty, and Conductive Wire Bridge also receives a reduced penalty when made from Gold. This makes Gold one of the best metals for high-traffic power infrastructure placed in living areas.

Gold also raises a building’s overheat temperature by 50 °C, which can make it useful when a structure needs extra thermal tolerance. Compared with many other metal volcano outputs, Gold is relatively easy to handle because molten Gold has low specific heat capacity and therefore does not store as much heat. Freshly solidified Gold can also be transported safely in many situations because it cools quickly and is less likely to burn Duplicants during handling.

In practice, Gold is one of the most versatile mid-to-late game metals: it is easy to turn into useful refined material, it supports key advanced recipes, and it is one of the best metals for improving decor-sensitive power networks.