How is gold washed by hand?

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-07 20:55

Where and how is gold washed by hand? Every pioneer in the Soviet Union could answer this question without hesitation. Of course, in America, and, of course, mining it in the rivers and streams of the Wild West. The stories of Jack London, their adaptation, and just American films about the life of miners made Soviet citizens major theorists in this matter.

We looked with sympathy at the incomprehensible to us gold fever, which we ourselves were guaranteed not to catch. But it was very interesting to watch how, standing in the river in shallow water, the exhausted miners turned the trays for hours, and then with bags of golden sand or with a large nugget they went to the nearest saloon to lower the mined with such labor.

Where is the gold?

Simple questions never occurred to me then: why do most handicraftsmen work near the river? Is this precious metal mined in Russia by miners? After all, neither nature nor people here are different from those cinematic Americans.

It is known that gold is everywhere: in water, earth, air, plants and living organisms on the entire planet. But if there were so many of it, humanity would hardly have made it a measure of material values.

Formation of deposits

Reluctantly entering into chemical reactions with other substances, this element (Au), without decaying or dissolving, sinks lower and lower into the bowels of the earth, because it has a large specific gravity. There it concentrates, forming deposits of gold-bearing rocks, from where it is mined on an industrial scale.

But if this metal only went down, then it would have disappeared from the surface of the earth long ago. And we would only know from films how handicrafts-prospectors wash gold. The processes taking place in the bowels are accompanied by the movement of groundwater, gases, magma, the movement of layers, which entrain gold particles, pushing them back to the surface of the earth.

If gold-bearing sands were found somewhere in the rivers, then they may appear here tomorrow or in 10 years, obeying the same process that takes place in the depths of the earth. So, from underground, primary (ore) deposits, surface or secondary (placer) deposits are formed.

Why is my gold in the river?

Golden grains of sand, picked up by water currents, along with other particles are transferred to streams, rivers, seas and oceans. But being heavier than most other elements, grains of sand precipitate where the speed of water flow decreases. And if a lot of them fell out in this place of the river, then a scattering is formed.

The terrain plays a significant role in the creation of deposits of any minerals. Specialists geomorphologists who study the processes of transformation of the earth's surface due to deep changes,must be part of the reconnaissance expedition.

Discovered large-scale deposits are being developed industrially. To do this, I work on rivers with large, floating installations - dredges that mine, wash and enrich the rock taken from the bottom. Actually, they continue to do the work begun by the river itself. In less affluent places or in streams, the work is done by hand.

Where do prospectors find gold in Russia?

Production of this metal in an industrial way is at a good pace. Our country has been in the top ten for the development of gold-bearing rocks for several years. Miners, on the other hand, work in places that are not of interest to large-scale developers. These sites are either already depleted and unprofitable, or difficult to access, or initially have little potential.

What Russian regions are interesting for handicraftsmen? Where do they wash gold most often? It is easier to name the regions where this metal has never been found. There is gold in Siberia, Yakutia, Bashkiria, the Far East, Magadan, the Urals, and many other places. Even in the Moscow region in Soviet times there were gold mines. With a lot of luck, gold can be found everywhere.

Everything must be according to the law

On the territory of the Russian Federation there are many laws regarding the development of minerals, including the extraction of precious metals. Here are just a few of them:

1. "Rules for the extraction, production, use, circulation, receipt, accounting and storage of precious metals and stones."
2. Environmental Protection Law.

3. Federal Law "On Precious Metals and Stones".

4. Article 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. "Illegal business".
5. Article 192 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. "Violation of the rules for the delivery of precious metals and stones to the state."
6. Federal Law "On Subsoil".

But it all comes down to one thing: it is legally prohibited for individuals to wash gold in Russia. A license to develop a site can only be purchased by a legal entity that, having won a tender for 20-25 years, develops the deposit and pays taxes to the state budget.

The right to such work for individuals has been trying to be legislated for 15 years, but so far to no avail.

Tray and shovel - the miner's weapon

By entering into temporary labor agreements with licensed site developers, or using other semi-legal schemes, miners today hand-wash gold, as their counterparts from American films did years ago.

The use of any technique that facilitates this work is prohibited. All that handicraftsmen can use is a tray and a shovel, sometimes a metal detector. In addition, they often work in such remote and hard-to-reach places that no equipment simply can get there.

What is a tray? What is a magnet for?

Prospector's tray is a trough, a basin with low sides. There are few requirements for him: he should not sink, butmust be strong and light.

The material can be very different. The ancient Greeks used skins for this purpose. Until now, there are trays made of wood, mainly from linden. Such trays are not painted, leaving a rough wood structure. Often the tool is metal, steel. The easiest option is plastic.

The shape is round or elongated in the form of a trough. They learn to work with such a tray from childhood.

The color of the material is dark to see light grains of precious metal on it.

The miner's bag should have a magnet to remove metallized ore from the sand and a pear bottle, it will be needed at the final stage of washing.

How to wash gold with a tray?

This method is old, but is still used not only in the direct mining of metal, but also in the exploration of deposits. Flushing is carried out in a section of the river where there is a calm, gentle current. Work is performed in the following sequence:

1. A shovel of sand from the bottom of a river or stream is placed in the tray.
2. Then it descends into the water, just below its surface. The miner begins to rotate or shake it, gently shaking the contents. Soluble particles of clay, earth, rock, organics, forming a cloudy suspension, will be washed off with water, and heavier elements will remain in the tray. It is necessary to achieve that the water in it becomes transparent. Then large stones are selected and discarded.
3. Wash the gold with a tray, repeating the process a few more times. At the bottom there should be a thin layer of darkcolors. It is a concentrate made up of minerals as heavy as the precious metal.
4. Since the remaining mineral is called magnetite and has the corresponding property, you can remove it from the tray using a magnet. Care must be taken to move it in a circular motion in an inclined tray.
5. A few drops of water with detergent from a pear bottle will loosen the concentrate.

If you find yellow grains of sand at the bottom of the tray, this will be your reward for hard work.

During a reconnaissance expedition, through certain sections of the way along the river bed, gold is washed with a tray, checking and fixing its amount. A route map is drawn up with marked places of washing and the amount of golden sand (if any). As you approach the placer, its amount increases, and then drops sharply. At the end, the boundaries of the deposit are outlined, after which gold mining is deployed in the place of its maximum concentration.