Obviously from gold mines! (other than recycling...)

This is one of the mines in Australia that produces a fair amount of gold to the rest of the world. Of course, this goes without saying that some of the gold eventually will get purchased by the mints here, which is in turn, turned into bullion gold.

I was in this mine probably a couple of years ago and just found these pictures and thought I would share (as well as this forum being "dead") For security reasons, I am not allowed to name the gold mine as this might spur the investors to wrongly assume that this mine is highly prosperous. But there is one thing to add, that is, this particular gold mine has an average of 0.7-1gram of gold per tonne

Here is a massive picture of the mine I was in.

http://img317.imageshack.us/img317/4332/1largeimageln2.jpg

If you noticed at the bottom of the picture, there is a tractor and men. The scale of the mine is mind boogling:



Well how do you mine from solid rocks? Easy! Just blow them up with explosives!!!!!!!!!!!! (No joke on that one)

All of the rock remains eventually get transported to a pile here:



to get sent off to a rock grinder machine...



and with the grinded rocks, it is mixed with water



Note: the noise level is extremely loud that we had to wear mufflers.

And the slurry gets sent off to a cleaner



The slurry gets filtered and mixed with some kind of detergent so that the gold and other metal particles float up on the surface, which eventually gets collected.



And at the end of the day... well there are just so much dust particles that you notice it...



Not too good if you breathe too much of these

Mining an ounce of gold from this mine was appearently some 250usd (if I wasn't mistaken) but mining operations get highly affected by oil prices. When I was there, oil prices is probably 60usd or so at that time.

There is a terrible statistics that appearently for every tonne of gold mined, 2 people will eventually die and 17 people will get critically injured that they are unabled to work.

Hope you enjoyed reading

That's always cool to see. I've always wanted to visit a gold/silver/diamond mine. Never seen one and want to just see how massive they really are.

Is cyanide still used in the gold collecting process? Or have they come up with a somewhat safer method?

I don't remember cyanide was used in this particular mine. But PLENTY of explosives are used... obviously we weren't allowed anywhere near those blasting times. I heard some 27 tones of explosives are used daily...

Thank you for sharing
Intresting

Great post thanks QX.

Very interesting. The human toll is quite high.

Very cool.

and that's still profitable?????

and that's still profitable?????

A ton of rock sounds like a lot more than it really is. The real question is how many tons can the facility process in a day....

As to profitability, smush an indians face on it and it triples in value....thread it into a chain / bracelet / or ring and we're talking 4-8x ,,, There are still logistics and additional transformation costs that are incurred getting it to market,,,, but heck yes it's profitable.

That's exactly why I'd invest in the mining company before I'd ever considering investing in the finished retailed product (ie - smushed gold). However, collecting and trading smushed gold for the fun of it is another matter, and one which I do occasionally enjoy.

It's not really possible to find gold in your naked eye since 1gram per tonne of solid rock is basically impossible to see! If I am not mistaken, only when it hits approximately 15grams her tonne of rock will it be visible, and that is often the quartz-gold vein which makes it easier to view. Unfortunately this isn't that type of gold mine.

The human toll statistics are actually not from that particular mine, but globally over these few years.

Profit wise, yes, it is still profitable else they will be out of job aren't they? Although 250 out of 400 (I think that was how much gold was two years ago) would directly incur 150usd instant profit per ounce of gold, don't forget, like what bahabully mentioned, miners aren't the only people out there working. Out of 10 people working in a mine, 3 are usually miners related and the other 7 are appearently people who are indirectly related to the mining industry, i.e. transportation of the minerals, foods, goods, etc.

No wonder the mining industry is a huge industry...

I remember reading that some fellows in Alaska during the 1970s made a fair living by going through the tailings at the old hydraulic sluice operations that closed in the early part of the 20th century.

What they were looking for was nuggets so large that they were culled out with the stones. One fellow told of finding a nugget the size and shape of a cruller from Dunkin Donuts. Another told of picking up a fist sized nugget from a streambed while in the employ of a mining operation. It was attached to a larger piece under the gravel by a thin, wirelike tail, but he wasn't around to see the rest unearthed.

Most of the gold I've been shown that came from panning was little flakes and flecks with the odd tiny nugget. Finding gold is probably exciting, though it's most likely very hard work as well.

Just over the hill from me is Virginia City, Montana gold was discovered there in 1862 and was the reason that the Bozeman trail was kept opened. They are still mining gold there although it has slowed down from it's hayday. Some places they still have not hit bedrock, which is where all the gold is. Just like 28plain said there is miles of tailings where some lucky metal detectors have found some rather large nuggets. I know 1 guy who found a 7 oz. nugget. This is the quarts-gold type & some of the formations and coloring is quite beautiful. Not quite like Black Hills gold where the gold itself is rose or green. But quarts is the host rock for gold & sometimes the color of the rock & the gold go very well together.
I've done some panning & got lucky a couple of times, small nuggets & some flakes.

I can tell you from doing a fair amount of gold panning, it is a pain in the arse, cold water, lot of work etc. But there is nothing like the excitement of finding yellow metal in the bottom of your pan, no matter how miniscule it is.

Indeed, alluvium gold, described as gold eroded from hard rocks via constant flow of water is one of the easiest way to find gold. But because of enviromental concerns, large mining companies are simply not allowed to mine in such areas. Hence, most companies are pretty much resorted to mine in hard solid rocks with large amount of explosives, like the above method.

There aren't too many places left where you can still find alluvium gold, but I guess Alaska is one of the last few places in the US where most of the streams are left untouched that you can find large chunk of gold. I know someone getting a chunk of gold that was probably 7.3 ounce of solid gold

I know of some places in California, near some mines that were worked in the very early part of the 20th century that might have big promise. Until I get back there and try it myself, I have to keep it a family secret though.

Can I provide you an axe? Or you need TNT?

Would you like the coordinates? So not going to happen

No thanks! If you give me the map, I will found myself the coordinates...

I've always wanted to try and pan for gold. Even the smallest amount would make me happy. Finding gold would just be so cool.

You need to take a trip to Tankavaara in northen Finland. I was there a few years back and collected a small amount myself as a memento. Gold panning is still practiced in Lapland today, as a serious and as a fun endeavor.

The best value seems to be the Gold Train, where you ride on some train or another, but get a beer too

BTW stop posting Finnish tourist stuff, and pictures of Finland, Sir Sisu, you are tempting others to want to invade your land

We used to go panning when I was a kid in NW Colorado. My dad worked in a coal mine near Steamboat Springs. Once the mine layed off most of the workers and dad went into the back country for a week. When we went to pick him up, he had almost his yearly pay in gold falkes and small nuggets. It's still out there, waiting to be found. I'd love to go back,since gold prices are pretty high nowadays.

A few years ago I visited Dahlonega, Ga. Most of you know that Dahlonega hosted the mint that produced many a wanted coin.

in the heart of the town they have a small business where tourists pay a small fee to pan in the creek running under main street. I found a good amount of flakes to take home.