Getting ready to eat some gold leaf

A man holds a spoon full of gold leaf, ready to eat it with his sushi at the "Seven Sushi Samurai" Sushi of the Year awards 2009 at the Olympia exhibition center in west London, on November 14, 2009. The gold leaf was an ingredient in last year's winner Mitsunori Kusakabe's entry. (LEON NEAL/AFP/Getty Images) 

From an interesting set of 37 photos at Boston.com's The Big Picture, presenting gold objects and aspects of gold mining and processing.