Gold mining. Methods of gold mining. Gold mining by hand

Gold mining began in ancient times. For the whole history of mankind , about 168.9 thousand tons of precious metal were extracted, almost 50% of which goes to a variety of jewelry. If all the gold produced is collected in one place, then a cube with a height of 5-storey house with an edge of 20 meters would be formed.

The Golden History

Gold is a metal that humanity has met at least 6500 years ago. The most ancient is a treasure found in the Varna necropolis, which is located in Bulgaria, and the products are dated 4600 BC.

Gold played an important role throughout the history of mankind, it is still considered a reliable investment. Currency came and went, but it remains a universal and stable standard for thousands of years.

To own this metal has always been prestigious. The quantity of gold was estimated not only by well-being, but also the position in society depended on it. This is the way it is today.

It was gold that was often the cause of wars and crimes, but at the same time it played a huge role in the progress of mankind in general. On its basis, the monetary system began to take shape, cultural values and architectural masterpieces were created, which are priceless and still amaze everyone. Thanks to the desire to produce this metal scientists have received many chemical elements, and gold rushes helped to discover and develop new lands.

How gold is mined in Russia

In the upper crust of the earth's layer gold is contained in small quantities, but there are a lot of such deposits and plots. Russia is on the 4th place in the rating for its extraction and has 7% of the world share.

In 1745, gold was extracted in an industrial way. The first mine was discovered by the peasant Yerofei Markov, who reported his whereabouts. Later he was called Berezovsky.

For today in Russia there are 16 companies that extract this precious metal. The leader is the company "Polyus Gold", which has 1/5 of the share of the entire production market. Aged artels mainly produce metal in the Magadan, Irkutsk and Amur regions, in the Chukotka, Krasnoyarsk and Khabarovsk regions.

Gold mining is a complicated, laborious and expensive process. Reduce such costs by closing low-profit and unprofitable mines. Reducing the volume of geological exploration work and introducing new technologies that save capital are quite effective measures.

The process of obtaining gold

While centuries passed, the process of mining this metal was constantly changing. Initially, it was popular to extract gold by hand. The prospectors received gold sand thanks to simple primitive adaptations. The river sand was collected in the tray, and then shook it in a stream of water, the sand washed off, and the grains of metal remained at the bottom, since they were heavier. This method is used often and at the present time.

However, this is not the only extraction process. For example, earlier along the rivers one could often find gold nuggets. They were thrown out on land with the erosion of gold-bearing veins naturally. However, by the twentieth century, there were no rich placers left, and gold was learned to extract from the ore.

Now, gold mining is rarely practiced by hand, the process is completely mechanized, but at the same time it is very complicated. A deposit is considered profitable, with 3 g of gold per ton. If it contains 10 grams, it is considered to be rich.

Methods of extracting gold from ore

A few years ago, often used a method such as amalgamation, which is based on a special property of mercury to envelop gold. At the bottom of the barrel put mercury, then it shook the gold bearing rock. As a result, even the smallest particles of gold simply adhered to it. After that, the mercury was separated from the waste rock, and with strong heating, the gold peeled off. However, this method has drawbacks, since mercury itself is very toxic. At the same time, it does not completely give gold, since very tiny particles of a precious metal are poorly wetted.

The second method is more modern - gold is leached with sodium cyanide, which is able to convert even the smallest particles into cyanide water-soluble compounds. And already from them then with the help of reagents and gold is extracted. This way you can get a precious metal, even from already abandoned deposits, which makes them again profitable.

Getting Gold at Home

The extraction of gold by hand is also possible at home. In order to extract it, you do not need to go to the mines and shake the trays for hours. There are more calm and civilized methods. Around a lot of items that contain gold. For example, old Soviet watches in their yellow corps contained a real pure precious metal without impurities.

In order to get it from there, you just need to buy such watches in very large quantities. Then you will need a plastic bucket and basin, an electric stove, razor blades, a glass heat resistant saucepan, a brush and cotton filter cloth, rubber gloves and a water spray. From chemicals, nitric and hydrochloric acids are needed.

Recycling begins when you already have 300 cases on hand. The process will take only 4 hours, while you will consume 4 liters of acid. Of this number of cases, you can get 75 grams of pure gold.

Gold production using etching method

Who would have thought, but everything, even children, daily wear in their pockets and bags of gold. It's simple - every sim card for a mobile phone contains some amount of precious metal. It can be extracted from there. This is done in two ways: by electrolysis or by etching. For the latter, a chemical reagent called "royal vodka" is needed.

The simplest method is precisely the etching, in which gold is obtained through the chemical inertness of the precious metal, namely, its ability to react with other elements. For etching, an "tsar vodka" oxidizer is required, which is made from concentrated acids: hydrochloric and nitric. The liquid has an orange-yellow color.

Gold from water

Gold mining is also possible from the water. It is contained in it, and in any: sewer, marine, water, but in very small quantities. For example, in marine it exists in the proportion of 4 mg per ton. Despite this, it is still possible to extract it with the help of quicklime, which will require only a ton of 4.5 thousand tons of water.

In order to get gold from sea water, you will need to mix it with lime milk. After a while, the liquid must be discharged back to the sea, and already extracted from the sediment precious metal. Kirov engineers offer another wasteless method, in which lime is replaced by ash from thermal power plants. This method is considered the least expensive of all known.

Golden bacteria

In Canada, scientists generally discovered bacteria that are capable of releasing gold from various solutions. It's amazing, is not it? For example, the bacterium Delftia acidovorans has a substance that just releases precious metal from the solution. And the reason is simple: it simply defends itself, protecting itself from gold ions, which are toxic to it. The second bacterium Cupriavidus metallidurans, on the contrary, accumulates it inside itself.

Both were found in 2006 in the "gold" mines. Studies by Canadians have shown that bacteria accumulated by gold, can avoid poisoning due to the genetic nature.

Dredge

Gold mining is also done with the help of dredges. They are called floating mining machines, which have dredging, concentrating or other equipment, which provides for a comprehensive mechanization of the extraction process. They enrich minerals and remove waste rock.

The purpose of dredges is to develop flooded mineral deposits and extract valuable components (gold, platinum, tin, etc.). They are used mainly on alluvial, deluvial, deep-sea and coastal-marine sedimentary and placer deposits. The exception is only boulder, strong rocks and viscous clays.

Types of dredges

Draghi is divided into two classes.

1. Marine, with the help of which are developed deposits of the coastal zone and deep mines in lakes, oceans. They are mounted on keel towed or self-propelled vessels that provide operation in the storm.
2. Continental, which is used to develop deposits on the continents. They are mounted on a flat-bottomed vessel.

Drags are classified by:

• The kind of energy that the drive mechanisms use;
• Depth rock notches in the section below the water level;
• The genus of the apparatus (many scoops with a discontinuous chain, with a continuous chain, a rotor complex, a dragline bucket, a clamshell bucket);
• The capacity of the scoop (large, medium and small);
• Method of maneuvering (rope-anchor and rope-pile).

On the territory of the Russian Federation, dredges are currently used for gold mining, mainly in the Far Eastern Federal District. However, mining by this method can negatively affect the ecosystem, destroy the landscapes of rivers, strongly pollute the territory that is located downstream.

Therefore, this method can be used only with careful observance of development projects. For their implementation will require reclamation of lands that have been violated by mining, as well as the restoration of forests, soil and vegetation of river valleys.

How to make a dredge for gold mining yourself

Many prospectors mining gold would like to have their own dredge, while significantly saving on costs, as the prices for this equipment are very high. In this case, the easiest way to do it yourself. Despite the fact that the materials will be bought the most inexpensive, still some amount will be required to create a dredge.

Initially, you need to compile lists and assemblies, for this you can take as an example the most famous dredges for gold mining at the moment. In principle, the first stage - the study, the more you know about them, the better and better you make your own.

Some important details can be found on an ordinary landfill, and buy them for a pittance, for example, the engine for the device. Next, you need to determine the size of the dredge, the larger it is - the more soil can be processed, but its weight and cost will also be higher than that of a small assembled product.

You need to build it with a hose diameter of up to 12 cm, so that you can handle the dredge yourself. The most optimal size is 10 cm. If you need compressed air, you need to purchase an air compressor, equipment for diving and an air intake tank. However, this is not the first necessity, you can do it later.

In order to build a desired device, you will need: a motor with a pump, a variety of tools (hacksaw, hammer, wrenches, screwdrivers). It will not hurt to purchase a welding machine. You can buy parts and used, but some, especially important and problem-or hard-to-replace, it is better to buy new ones in the store.

Some parts of the dredge can often not be made with your own hands, so you will still have to purchase them: engine, water pump, air compressor, hose, rudimentary washtub. The latter is the most important detail, without it, gold is simply not captured, accordingly, the entire constructed device loses its meaning.

The funnel of the dredge should be installed in the head of the sluice so that it directs the streams of water and soil into it. The suction valve takes water into the pump (this is also one of the important details). If sand is sucked, the pump can quickly break down, therefore it is impossible to dredge without a valve.

The hydroelevator is located at the end of the hose, with water being supplied to the beginning and creating a vacuum. It is best to use a suction nozzle. It is rather difficult to operate an elevator on large dredges, so the application is mostly on small machines if the work is done in shallow water.

The buoyancy of the apparatus is a separate stage in the creation of the dredge. You can provide it in several ways. Initially used tires from trucks, they weigh a little and are cheap. The only obstacle is that getting them is not as easy as it might seem. However, this would be the best option.

Now many producers of dredges use plastic pontoons. They are quite reliable, but also heavy. Nevertheless, there are many options here. Some dredges that are collected at home have different plastic pontoons. One of the interesting ways - when using plastic containers or barrels, the capacity of which is up to 40 liters. You can buy them quite inexpensively. If you do not mind spending a large amount, but to buy a finished product, then it's easier to buy from the manufacturer.

Another important detail affecting the buoyancy is the frame. It is on it that the motor and the ore-washing trough are attached. If you do it yourself, you can take simple pieces of aluminum that are easy to find in any dump. It will cost very little, efforts are almost not required. If the frame is flat, then the tires from the truck are simply attached to it.

You can check the work of the dredge after its complete assembly. For this, two dozen small pieces of lead are taken, which are leveled and painted in a bright color. The ground is poured into the pond, and they are placed there. That's just on it and you can try the dredge. Look at how many pieces of lead have returned after washing the rock. In the normal operation of the dredge, losses are possible only up to 2 pieces. If the lead is not enough, then you should double-check the entire assembly according to the scheme, and if necessary, make further improvements.

Gold mining plans in the future

There are fewer and fewer gold deposits, they are being discovered now mostly in South Africa, others are considerably depleted, and deposits with a lower and medium content of precious metals are simply not profitable.

According to forecasts of experts, the reserves of minerals that contain gold, can be developed for another 50 years. Then they will end. Simply because mankind has been producing gold very intensively in recent decades. And it becomes less and less in nature. Now we have to find new ways of mining this metal in the next few years. The most promising method is the technology of gold leaching.

In recent years, much has been said about the development of the ocean as yet another way of extracting gold. Marine placers, there are a lot of deposits, but the bottom has not been fully studied yet. It is possible that it is in the ocean that most of the precious metal deposits are hidden. Our descendants have to find out.