Period 6 element also dissolves in alkaline solutions of cyanide, which have been used in mining. Gold dissolves in mercury, forming amalgam alloys. Gold is insoluble in nitric acid, which dissolves silver and base metals, a property that has long been used to confirm the presence of gold in items, giving rise to the term "the acid test." Gold has been a valuable and highly sought-after precious metal for coinage, jewelry, and other arts since long before the beginning of recorded history. Gold standards have been a common basis for monetary policies throughout human history, later being supplanted by fiat currency starting in
Simultaneously extracted metals and Acid-volatile sulfide initially unbound to AVS (due to insufficient AVS in the sediment to "mop up" all the metal ions). The concentrations of metals in the acid solution can be measured by a number of analytical chemistry methods, including atomic emission spectrometry, atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS), or mass spectrometry. These are known as "simultaneously extracted metals" because they are the metals liberated from the sediment "while the volatilization of sulfide is occurring". Metals extracted from sediment by digestion, or with a different acid than HCl are "not" simultaneously extracted metals. By correcting appropriately for dilution, the SEM concentration in the sediment can