Gold Prospecting Methods

what are the roles of magnetic methods in prospecting of gold deposits?

give examples.

Gold mining consists of the processes and techniques employed in the removal of gold from the ground. There are several techniques by which gold may be extracted from earth and rock:

1. Gold Panning

Gold panning is a mostly manual technique of sorting gold. Wide, shallow pans are filled with sand and gravel that may contain gold. Water is added and the pans are shaken, sorting the gold from the gravel and other material. Gold being much denser than rock, quickly settles to the bottom of the pan. The silt is usually removed from stream beds, often at a bend in the stream, or resting on the bedrock bed of the stream, where the weight of gold causes it to separate out of the water flow. This type of gold found in streams or dry streams are called placer deposits.

Gold panning is the easiest technique for searching for gold, but is not commercially viable for extracting gold from large deposits, except where labor costs are very low and/or gold traces are very substantial. It is often marketed as a tourist attraction on former goldfields. Before production methods can be used, a new source must be identified and panning is a good way to identify placer gold deposits so that they may be evaluated for commercial viability

2. Metal detecting

A new small scale technique using metal detectors for finding gold. Using a piece of electronic equipment, called a metal detector, a person may walk around area systematically scanning below the surface. If the meter gives a positive reading a quantity of gold may be present up to a meter below the surface being scanned at the time. This technique is very easy to operate, highly mobile, and very popular among gold diggers.

3. Sluicing

Using a sluice box to extract gold from placer deposits has been a common practice in prospecting and small-scale mining throughout history to the modern day. A sluice box is essentially a man-made channel with riffles set in the bottom. The riffles are designed to create dead zones in the current to allow gold to drop out of suspension. The box is placed in the stream to catch water-flow and gold bearing material is placed at the top of the box. The material is carried by water through the box where gold and other heavy material settles out behind the riffles. Lighter material flows out of the box as tailings.

Larger commercial placer mining operations employ screening plants or trommels to remove the larger alluvial materials such as boulders and gravel before concentrating in a sluice box or jig plant.

4. Dredging

Although mostly historical, some dredging is done by small scale miners using suction dredges. These are small machines floating on the water and are usually operated by one or two people. Unlike the old bucket line dredges, modern suction dredges have little to no detrimental impact on the area being mined. These machines are much more efficient at extracting smaller gold than the old “bucket line” ever was. This means there is a better chance of you finding gold than ever. There are some large suction dredges (100 hp+ 10 inch) used in commercial production throughout the world. Smaller ones with 2 to 4 inch suction tubes are used to sample the areas behind boulders and along the potential pay streaks, until color (gold) first appears.

5. Hydraulic mining

Hydraulic mining is a type of placer mining used in areas where large amounts of loose gravel and sand or soil are poorly packed and may be washed away with a heavy stream of water. Fire hoses (Water cannons) are sometimes used to strip away entire hills of loose gravel, which are then run through a sluice (a wooden trough with riffles). Gold, being heavier, does not move as easily as other material in the sluice. This technique can damage the environment, causing mud in streams below the mining site and erosion damage at the site itself.

gold mining, panning for gold.wmv

Modern Gold Mining Techniques $37.77 This video covers the basics of gold geology and shows you where to locate gold deposits, extensive computer graphics, a simulated river showing where gold travels and deposits, sampling techniques, and a comprehensive visual demonstration of gold panning, mossing and sluicing techniques, sniping, the basics of hydraulic concentrating, electronic prospecting, gold clean-up steps, and much much mor…

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