Gold mining is a process that is hundreds or even thousands of years old. People have been developing gold veins since time immemorial, using the precious metal for a variety of purposes - from jewelry and household items to creating cash reserves of states.
Gold rarely loses value, and its stability in the financial market makes buying the yellow metal the best way to protect assets. Despite crises and epidemics, it is gold that remains the most demanded currency, and not paper money.
By the way, the recent global pandemic due to the Chinese Covid-19 virus, of course, could not but affect the situation on the gold market in particular and the financial market in general. However, today there is a steady increase in the price of gold, despite the fact that the forecast for gold production this year is not too optimistic. Nevertheless, experts suggest an increase in demand for the precious metal as an anti-crisis investment.
If a few centuries ago, prospectors mined the precious metal using artisanal methods, today industrial methods of gold mining are in use. Moreover, in many countries today it is even forbidden to extract aurum by artisanal methods at the legislative level, as this has a negative impact on the environment. For example, such a ban operates in Russia.
How is metal mined on an industrial scale? The main method can be called the development of mines and deposits. Constant modernization of mining tools makes it possible to simplify the processes of gold mining as much as possible. Of course, in the layers of rock raised from the ground, not only the coveted gold is found, but also other elements - zinc, silver, lead, platinum. The resulting product goes through several complex stages before giving up the necessary precious metal. To begin with, it is crushed, potassium or alkaline sodium is added, and everything is melted together. Water is poured into the resulting mixture and then all the liquid is removed. Hydrochloric acid is added to the residual mass, which removes all unnecessary. This technique is considered the most effective. It has been popular in Russia for a couple of hundred years. However, it also has a significant drawback - in the process, a rather large percentage of precious metal particles is lost.
In the West, preference is given to leaching gold from raw materials, which is an environmentally friendly method of gold mining.
In addition, there are other methods:
Electrolysis. This requires an anode and a cathode. The first is metal, and the second is a gold plate. After the reaction occurs, small particles of aurum remain on the plate.
Amalgation. Here, mercury is used to extract the precious metal. It is used to extract gold from ore. But such a process is not only very dangerous, but also requires large financial investments, so it is used infrequently.
Water. Ordinary water can also help in the extraction of aurum. To do this, the rock is washed away, and then, together with particles of gold, it is pumped up.
Today, gold mining is popular in many countries. But industrialists have so far focused their attention on land. At the same time, scientists believe that in terms of developing gold veins, the bottom of the world's oceans has great potential.
