Hobbies And Interests
Types
There are a variety of ways in which gold is mined on a small scale, each catered to specific situations. Panning uses a pan to remove gold from water, sluicing floods a hillside and collects the gold and dredging essentially sucks the gold from liquid.
Features
Large-scale mining techniques remove gold from hard rock. This occurs in open pits or underground where large amounts of gold are located.
Function
To separate gold from other rock formations, a process known as cyanidation is used. Sodium cyandide is mixed with zinc. This solution helps remove the gold into a sludge material. This sludge is then processed at a refinery to create 99.9999 percent purity.
History
Gold mining is believed to begun on a large scale by ancient Egyptians and Romans. Rival nations were invaded in an effort to continue mining the precious metal, promoting both the wealth and power of the empires.
Geography
According to the Mbendi organization, South Africa has some of the world's largest gold mines. Most notably, the East Rand Mine is located more than two miles below the earth's surface, making it the world's deepest.