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How Gold Is Extracted?
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Written by: Jack Wagon
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Word Count: 539 |
Date: Sat, 21 Nov 2009 |
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Gold extraction has been the most profitable business in all ages. Gold mining is a terminology used for the incorporated processes and methods used in discovering and extracting gold from streams and earth. It is present in the shape of particles in loose deposit in places called placer mines; or in the form of hard rocks hidden deep down in earth.
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Different techniques are used in extracting gold from placer mines and hard rocks. In the former case, gold is recovered with gravity separation method; and in the latter, chemical reactions separate the gold from other metals and substances.
The first and the foremost step for gold mining are to locate if gold is present in some specific area or not. This is normally done with the help of the process called gold planning or by the use of metal detector. It is not advisable to use gold planning, because it is not of much benefit to be used commercially. Using a metal detector is a lot much easier as it easily checks the presence of gold under any specific site and it can be done on a larger scale.
In many areas, gold deposits are found in the stream beds. Such places are called placer deposits. Sluicing is the common method to extract gold efficiently by the gold miners. The sluice box is a wooden box designed in such a way that the gold material is placed on its top. It is immersed in the stream to channel water flow. Gold and other heavier particles settle in the bottom of the box and the remaining silt is washed away by the current. Sluicing can be used on small as well as on larger scales.
Dredging is also a popular method of gold mining, though it is replaced by modern methods these days. Gold mining is done through suction dredges. A dredge is a small machine floating on water. It is fitted with a sluice box and suction hose. Small suction hoses are good for extracting smaller particles of gold. Large scale dredging employs earth movers like excavators that dig out the gravel containing gold. When this is processed through the sluice box, gold particles get trapped in. This is an economical and eco friendly digging method, because it does not strip vegetation, and the water is fully recycled in this process. This method is usually adopted in some areas of New Zealand and Canada.
The areas where gold is found in the form of hard rock, the hard rock extraction method is used. The biggest gold mines of hard rocks in the world are present in South Africa. The two types of hard rock mining are open pit mining and underground mining.
Chemical reactions are mainly used for extracting gold from its ores of sodium cyanide and for extracting gold from other materials, active carbon is normally used.
For most men, women and various nations, gold is a sign of beauty, wealth and power. All the economic factors of an economy are indicated by it. For centuries, the extraction of gold has been quite an attractive activity and it still continues to do so.
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