Where and how to wash gold by hand? Every pioneer could answer this question in the Soviet Union 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 film adaptation, and simply American films about the life of prospectors made Soviet citizens major theoreticians in this matter.
We looked with sympathy at the gold rush that was incomprehensible to us, which we ourselves could not be guaranteed to get infected. But it was very interesting to watch how, exhausted miners, standing in the river in shallow water, turned the trays for hours, and then, with bags of golden sand or a large nugget, they went into the nearest saloon to lower the so-obtained.
Where is the gold?
Simple questions did not occur then: why exactly the majority of artisans work by the river? Are miners working in Russia for this precious metal? After all, neither nature nor people here are different from those cinema 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 them, it would be unlikely that humanity would have made him the measure of material values.
Field formation
Reluctantly entering into chemical reactions with other substances, this element (Au ), without decaying and not dissolving, sinks lower and lower into the bowels of the earth, since 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 fell down, that metal would have long disappeared from the surface of the earth. And we would know only from films how artisans-miners wash gold . The processes occurring in the bowels are accompanied by the movement of groundwater, gases, magma, the movement of layers, which carry gold particles along with them, pushing them back to the surface of the earth.
If you once found gold sands in rivers, it means that they can appear here tomorrow or in 10 years, obeying the same process taking place in the depths of the earth. So from underground, primary (ore) deposits surface or secondary (alluvial) deposits are formed.
Why wash my gold in the river?
Golden grains of sand, captured by water flows, together with other particles are transported to streams, rivers, seas and oceans. But being heavier than most other elements, grains of sand precipitate where the speed of the water stream decreases. And if in this place of the river a lot of them fell, then a placer 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 profound changes are necessarily part of the reconnaissance expedition.
Discovered large-scale deposits are developed industrially. To do this, I work on rivers with large, floating units - dredges that mine, wash and enrich the rock removed from the bottom. Actually, they continue to do the work begun by the river itself. In less affluent places or in streams, work is done manually.
Where do prospectors find gold in Russia?
Extraction of this metal by industrial method is carried out at a good pace. This is not the first year our country has been in the top ten in the development of gold-bearing rocks. Prospectors also work in those places that are not of interest to large-scale developers. These sites are either already depleted and unprofitable, or inaccessible, or initially have little potential.
What Russian regions are interesting for artisans? Where do they wash gold most often? It’s easier to name the regions in which this metal has never been found. Gold is in Siberia, Yakutia, Bashkiria, the Far East, Magadan, the Urals, and many more where else. Even in the Moscow region in Soviet times there were gold mines. With great luck, gold can be found everywhere.
Everything must be in accordance with the law.
On the territory of the Russian Federation there are many laws relating to the development of minerals, including the extraction of precious metals. Here are just a small part of them:
- "Rules for the extraction, production, use, circulation, receipt, accounting and storage of precious metals and stones."
Law on Environmental Protection.
Federal law "On precious metals and stones."
Article 171 of the Criminal Code. "Illegal business."
Article 192 of the Criminal Code. "Violation of the rules for the transfer of precious metals and stones to the state."
Federal Law "On Subsoil".
But it all boils down to one thing: it is not legally forbidden for individuals to wash gold in Russia . A license to develop a site can only be acquired by a legal entity that, having won a tender for 20 to 25 years, works out a deposit and pays taxes to the state budget.
For 15 years, people have been trying to secure the right to such work for individuals by law, but so far to no avail.
Tray and Shovel - Prospector's Weapon
Concluding temporary labor agreements with licensed site developers, or using other semi-legal schemes, prospectors today manually wash gold, as their colleagues from American films did this many years ago.
The use of any technique that facilitates this work is prohibited. All handicraftsmen can use is a tray and a shovel, sometimes a metal detector. In addition, they often work in such remote and inaccessible places that no equipment can simply go there.
What is a tray? Why do I need a magnet?
The prey tray is a trough, a basin with low sides. There are few requirements for him: he should not sink, but should be strong and light.
The material can be very different. The ancient Greeks used skins for this purpose. There are still trays of wood, mainly from linden. Such trays do not paint, 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. Learn to work with such a tray since childhood.
The color of the material is dark to see the light grains of precious metal on it.
There must be a magnet in the prospector’s bag, to remove metallized ore from sand and a bottle-pear, it will be needed at the final stage of washing.
How to wash gold in a tray?
This method is old, but it is still used not only in direct metal mining, but also in the exploration of deposits. Flushing is carried out on a section of the river where there is a calm, gentle current. The work is performed in the following sequence:
A shovel of sand from the bottom of a river or stream is placed in the tray.
Then it sinks into the water, just below its surface. The miner begins to rotate or wiggle 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.
Wash the gold with a tray, repeating the process several more times. A thin layer of dark color should remain at the bottom. This is a concentrate composed of minerals as heavy as precious metals.
Since the remaining mineral is called magnetite and has the corresponding property, you can remove it from the tray using a magnet. Care should be taken while driving it in a circular motion in an inclined tray.
A few drops of water with a detergent from a bottle-pear will make the concentrate more loose.
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 path along the riverbed, gold is washed with a tray, checking and fixing its amount. A route map is drawn up with the marks of the washes and the amount of gold sand (if any). As it approaches the placer, its amount grows, and then drops sharply. At the end, the boundaries of the deposit are outlined, after which gold mining operations unfold at the site of its maximum concentration.