2006-07-15 05:22:06 · 11 answers · asked by benny_tammy_goss 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Earth Sciences & Geology
what are the minerals in gold.how do you go about finding gold in the earth.
2006-07-15 05:25:07 · update #1
As pointed out above quite correctly, gold is an element and not a mineral.
To fix a few small mistakes, the chemical name for gold is gold, not "aurum" - that is the latin word for gold and is where the chemical symbol Au was derived from.
And gold is not only found in nuggets. Gold is everywhere, your fingernails, soil, rocks, even ocean water.
Gold can be mined anywhere there is enough of a natural concentration to make the recovery process profitable. Most gold mines have gold concentrations in the ore ranging from 1 to 20 ppm - that means that 2 to 30 tons of rock have to be mined to recover one ounce of gold.
There are very few naturally occurring minerals containing gold in the crystal structure, therefore gold is usually mined as elemental gold.
Finding gold depends on how much you want. If you are a mining company that needs millions of dollars per year in gold production, you would employ geologists, geophysicists, and geochemists to study the earth's crust and look for things that are associated with gold. Gold concentrations in modern gold mines are so low that it is just about impossible to detect the gold directly, until you drill holes into a prospective area and with some luck you find gold. The world's biggest gold producers, in order, are South Africa, Australia, and US (mostly Nevada).
If you are a hobbyist or a collector, and just want a few small samples of gold, your best bet is to look for placer deposits, where gold has been libertaed from its primary rock source and can be found as nuggets in modern or ancient river gravels. In North America, some of the better places to look are the Sacramento River watershed in California, the Clear Creek area in Colorado, Fairbanks and Nome in Alaska, and the Klondike River in Yukon.
2006-07-15 07:23:50 · answer #1 · answered by minefinder 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Gold can be found by hard rock mining which is the typical gold mine one thinks of from the old west. A deposit is located by looking for "indicator minerals" such as white quartz or schist. Tunnels or pits are dug to follow the "vein" of gold bearing rock.
Placer mining is the easiest method of mining. This is where water and specific gravity is used to separate gold from oher materials deposited into sream and river beds using gold pans, sluices, or other recovery equipment. Deposits of gold are concentrated in specific locations in waterways due to the weight of the gold compared to other rocks.
Gold being metallic can also be found using metal detectors and other equipment. Either hard rock or placer deposits can be located this way.
If you are interested in recreational gold prospecting, try this site and it's many links.
http://www.goldprospectors.org/
This is the official site of the Gold Prospectors Association of America. The GPAA offers members lots of free to use claims across the country and all the advice and tips you will need to be a sucessful prospector. Membership is very reasonable and the members are very willing to share their knowlege. We have a common dig monthly and all who participate share the gold. Yes, even in Ohio there is gold being found every day. In whatever part of the country you live, there are claims nearby.
Good luck.
2006-07-20 21:40:03 · answer #2 · answered by ©2009 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Gold is an element as all knows. Its symbol is AU(aurum). No minerals can join to form GOLD. Strictly speaking when one or more minerals join together they form what is called as rock.
Gold is an element present in the magma in the scarce quantity.Gold is always associated with BLUE OR BROWN QUARTZ. So when u come across an igneous rock contaning blue or brown quartz u can expect gold in that. But this is not true in all the occassions.
Gold in India is found at:
KOLAR GOLD FIELD - KERALA associated with quartz
WYNAD GOLD FIELD - TAMILNADU (nilgiris)
also found in Andhra Pradesh in meagre amount
But gold is not mined in these mines as the tenor is too less and not economicably viable.
Largest gold deposit is in South Africa
2006-07-27 06:18:02 · answer #3 · answered by DUNITE 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are no minerals in gold. Gold itself is a mineral (Au). I have found 2 nuggets of gold before in Kalgoorlie in Western Australia. You use a metal detector to find the gold. It came as nuggets - i had to wash them first to get some bits of random rock and sand off it.
2006-07-15 12:28:10 · answer #4 · answered by aussie_east_ender 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Gold is an element all by itself, like Iron, or Aluminium, or zinc...Gold's chemical name is Aurum. There are no minerals in Gold.
2006-07-15 12:27:07 · answer #5 · answered by stacey 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Gold is an ELEMENT.
It is not made in the earth.
It is made inside very large stars, Not little ones like our sun.
And to quote a very old saying: "Gold is where you find it."
Check this site out, they have all the stuff to mine gold.
http://www.miningold.com/
Yours: Grumpy
2006-07-15 12:25:08 · answer #6 · answered by Grumpy 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Gold is an element by itself.
VR
2006-07-28 10:02:40 · answer #7 · answered by sarayu 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think you can make gold with mustard seeds, mercury, and limestone, but I forget what proportions of each is needed to make it 24K.
Maybe try Ask.com
2006-07-25 00:59:26 · answer #8 · answered by Randy L 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Gold is gold is GOLD
2006-07-25 04:28:08 · answer #9 · answered by amrhappy1 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
quartzite: you can pan for gold sometimes it is in streams or sometimes you have to dig it out of the ground.
2006-07-25 13:56:01 · answer #10 · answered by wolf 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋