Gold as a mineral report for grade 3

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The world
Gold mineral

Gold is one of the few precious metals. Humanity has been using gold since long before our era. But it was not used as an element of luxury. Ancient people used gold as a weapon. They used gold to hunt animals. Tips for spears and arrows were mainly made from gold because metal was difficult to find.

Now gold is more often used as an element of luxury. A lot of different jewelry, rings, earrings and many other types of jewelry are made from gold.

Despite the fact that gold is one of the softest metals, its melting point exceeds a thousand degrees. While other harder metals have a melting point that is two times lower. Gold is also a very good electrical and thermal conductor. Despite this, for some reason, gold is not used as a radiator. But they are very widely used in cables.

Gold also has a fairly high ductility. To explain with an example, from one ounce of gold you can get as much as 80 kilometers of gold thread less than a human hair thick. By the way, very high-quality and durable threads are obtained from gold threads.

Gold is a metal that is extremely difficult to mine. But this does not mean that there is little of it on our planet. There is an assumption that there is gold even in the atmosphere, but it is invisible to our eyes. Gold is the first metal to be discovered by man. The main concentration of gold is in the metallic core of the earth. That's why it's so hard to get. Over the past five years, humanity has made a huge leap in gold mining. Gold is also mined in various streams and rivers. This is how the largest nugget was found, weighing 72 kilograms. He was only five centimeters underground.

The largest gold mining continues to this day in the Republic of South Africa. More than five hundred tons of gold can be mined in South Africa per year. But this is not so easy to do. To bring this gold to the surface, seven hundred tons of other rocks have to be crushed. Tons of water are used to wash the gold ore. A large amount of fuel and various chemicals are wasted. This gold is mined in a mine three and a half kilometers deep.

Now an ordinary person can easily purchase any gold jewelry for a fairly large sum. After all, gold is so difficult and expensive to mine. But what can you not do for such beauty?

Varieties and characteristics

A fossil such as pure gold has extraordinary softness. Because of this, the material is very easy to damage, even if you run your fingernail over it, it can get scratched. In order to give the metal strength and reliability, certain alloys are created with the addition of silver, platinum and other elements that make the compound harder.

Due to its high level of density, this mineral is very easy to extract from land and water bodies. If we compare in terms of heaviness, this precious metal takes an honorable 6th place, inferior to the following elements:

Platinum;
Osmium;
Iridium;
Rhenium;
Plutonium.

Excellent ductility can also be highlighted. It is possible to make gold sheets that are only a few millimeters thick. This element has proven itself well as a conductor that conducts electricity and heat without difficulty. Under normal conditions, this material is not affected by acids, and as a result does not oxidize.

Dissolution in aqua regia.

The only thing that can be used to dissolve such minerals, which in their characteristics and composition resemble gold, is aqua regia, as well as some chemical compounds that contain sodium. Most often, this material is distinguished by color. It depends on which metals are added to the alloy.

The common yellow color seen on jewelry is a mixture of gold with silver or copper. If there is a slight tint of red, more copper particles have been added. In Europe, products with lemon-yellow colors are very popular and widespread. This indicates that manufacturers gave greater preference to silver.

If you add nickel, platinum or palladium to the alloy, you get white gold. If the amount of nickel is excessively large, then such a product may cause an allergic reaction. Red gold has gained great popularity in Rus'. It was made by adding copper. And to make it shine, a certain amount of silver was added. There are also items in other colors.

Also, if the composition is known, then the sample can be determined. In Russia there is a specially developed sample scale.

No. 375. The base metal is 30%. The rest of the volume is occupied by copper and silver particles. This alloy tends to tarnish quickly, but can be polished very easily.

No. 500. Half of the entire composition is noble metal, and the rest is additional elements. This option is very difficult to melt and over time loses its natural shine.

Types of hallmarks on Russian gold samples.

No. 585. Gold occupies 59%. The percentages of other metals may differ from each other.

No. 750. The alloy contains the same elements as the 585 sample, but gold occupies 75%. The shine lasts much longer than all previous samples and there is a vibrant variety of colors.

No. 999. This sample is considered the rarest and most expensive because it consists of pure gold.

In other countries, this scale may differ slightly, but these differences will not be too significant.

Gold mining in Russia

After the collapse of the USSR, gold production in Russia steadily declined and in 1998 reached a historical low of 114.6 tons. Then the industry began to recover, gold production began to increase, and in 2000 gold mining enterprises reached the 1991 level, producing 130.8 tons of gold. In 2002, gold mining in Russia exceeded the level of gold mining in the USSR, gold production (including associated mining and secondary production - 170.9 tons). The growth of gold production was influenced by favorable factors, such as:

• High price of gold on world exchanges.

• Liberalization of the domestic Russian market.

• Structural changes in the gold mining industry.

Unfortunately, since 2002, the increase in gold production has practically ceased, and occurred only due to the by-product of non-ferrous metallurgy and secondary gold. Since 2004, the volume of total gold production in Russia began to fall. The drop in gold production volumes is due to problems with production at such significant deposits as Kubaka (Magadan Region), Mnogovershinnoye and Tas-Yuryakh (Khabarovsk Territory), Olimpiadskoye (Krasnoyarsk Territory). Problems with production also arose in Yakutia and the Irkutsk region. According to experts, the decrease in gold production in 2004-2007 in 9 of the 13 main gold-mining regions was due not so much to temporary factors as to problems with the provision of enterprises with reserves of raw materials, insufficient volume of geological exploration for placer gold, depletion of previously discovered deposits and difficulties in obtaining licenses .

An insufficient mineral resource base may deprive the gold mining industry of sustainable development in the coming years. According to calculations by A. Krivtsov and B. Benevolsky (TsNIGRI), the profitable reserves of primary gold available in 2004 should be exhausted by 2015, alluvial gold by 2011. In 2004, geological exploration work (GRR) gave a zero increase in the predicted resources of alluvial gold categories P1 and P2, in 2005 it amounted to only 3% of the total increase in reserves of gold deposits of all geological industrial types. Russian gold mining companies are aware of the importance of geological exploration. For example, ZAO Polyus spent $20 million on geological exploration in 2004, and about $40 million in 2005. In 2005, 143,000 linear meters of wells were drilled, which is two and a half times more than in 2004. The main reason for the slow growth of gold production in Russia is the slow development of large primary gold deposits, the development of which has been delayed for many years. This can be said about the Sukhoi Log deposit in the Irkutsk region, with a gold reserve of more than a thousand tons and a value of about fourteen billion dollars. The deposit was not transferred for development from 2000 to 2005. The Russian Ministry of Natural Resources understands this problem, as evidenced by the increase in funding for geological exploration. Unsurveyed areas are not of interest to investors. The most problematic regions include the Amur region, where two-thirds of the territory has not been surveyed and there is a difficult situation with placer gold reserves. Since 2000, the region has not received funds from the federal budget for geological exploration. In 2004, the region was allocated only 500,000 rubles for these purposes. In 2005, the situation with federal funding changed dramatically; the regions allocated 71.7 million rubles for geological exploration. Most of these funds were spent on the exploration of placer deposits.

The state strategy for the development of the country's mineral resource base was determined by the government of the Russian Federation in a long-term program for studying the subsoil and reproducing the mineral resource base of Russia. The program provides for increased funding for geological exploration. By 2010 - up to 16.5 billion rubles, and by 2021 - up to 20.5 billion rubles per year. Encouraging mining enterprises to conduct geological exploration. It is planned to attract thirty-two billion rubles for the exploration of new gold deposits by 2010, and one hundred and forty billion rubles by 2020 from subsoil users. By 2015, about fifty ore and complex deposits will come into operation, which will increase gold production by 50–60% - up to 250 tons per year.

Taking into account the measures taken, the situation began to change and in 2008 in Russia there was a sharp increase in both the volume of gold mining and its total production. Thus, gold production in Russia in 2008 increased by 13.1% to 163.89 tons. This was reported by the Russian Union of Gold Miners. The total volume of gold production compared to the same period last year increased by 13.3% to 184.49 tons.

Places of origin and production

This material is the oldest among all others. The mining of this precious metal began almost at the same period when the first deposits of copper began to be found, back in Neolithic times. But even despite the fact that gold nuggets began to be mined a very long time ago, today they are found quite rarely. If we turn to historical and statistical data, then over the entire existence of mankind, only 165 thousand tons of this mineral were mined.

If you make one solid cube from all this amount of precious substance, then its side will be about twenty meters. If we make a comparison, the same amount of iron can be extracted in less than an hour.

Today, the largest number of nuggets can be found in the territory of the Republic of South Africa. Also, a large amount of gold reserves are located in China and America. Russia ranks 6th in this rating list. An important reason for this was that America received Alaska, which previously belonged to the Russian Federation. Based on current exchange rates, Alaska was valued at 100 million US dollars. Gold is a precious mineral that is abundant in Alaska. You can learn about this from numerous photo and video reports.

Chukotka and the Amur region are the most significant regions. Where most of the reserves are located. Today, a wide variety of mining methods are used. The main criterion for choosing one method or another is the type of deposits. In order to extract nuggets, a thorough washing method is used. There are places where matter is dispersed. In order to detect and collect it, they use amalgamation.

The largest gold mining sites in the world.

Ores containing this noble material may contain other substances and impurities. In order to extract the purest possible material, it is necessary to carry out a regeneration process or apply cyanidation. There are special factories and production facilities that professionally engage in refining. They use technologies that have a high level of complexity and consist of many stages.

Areas of application

According to statistics, almost all reserves of the extracted substance are used as gold reserves, which are listed on the balance sheet of the state. Most are kept in commercial banks as deposits and investments. A certain percentage is owned by private individuals who mine or collect jewelry, antiques or money. Only 10% of the total amount is used in industry to create equipment, clothing, furniture and other general consumer items.

If we take electrical engineering, gold is used to make an insulating coating for contacts, inputs and connectors, and is also used as solder. Many metals can be carefully gold-plated to protect against corrosion and bacterial damage. This substance is also considered a food additive, so it can be used in the food industry.

If someone didn’t know, then you can’t do without this substance even when creating ordinary glasses. A thin film is made from it, which is a protective layer against infrared radiation. And if an electric charge is passed through this film, the glass will acquire useful anti-fog characteristics. Such glass is used to create ships, cars, aircraft, steam locomotives and other vehicles.

The substance is also used to make dentures for teeth, as well as crowns. It is added to some medications. The material can be found in many cosmetic products that are designed to rejuvenate and improve skin condition. But, as already mentioned, most of the money is spent on creating jewelry, which may differ in size, shape, quality, purpose and cost.

The description provided in this article will help you learn about the characteristics and properties of the valuable mineral gold.

Where is gold used?

This metal has occupied a leading place in the jewelry industry for many centuries. High plasticity, which determines the ease of processing, makes it possible to produce complex expressive products from gold blanks. As for aesthetics, the gold polished surface, which does not lose its attractiveness for many years, has practically no competitors in the world of semi-precious and precious metals;
In dentistry, gold is used less and less, since the softness of the metal does not provide crowns with the necessary durability. Gold teeth are simply “eaten up” and bridges are deformed under the influence of loads. So this raw material in this industry is increasingly used only as an alloy;
The use of gold in the electronics industry is becoming the leading trend of our time. Such important properties as electrical and thermal conductivity are complemented by absolute immunity to moisture. Therefore, miniature gold parts are increasingly being installed in new generation electronic devices and computers;
The ability of gold to reflect infrared and ultraviolet radiation has been adopted by manufacturers of glass for high-rise buildings, electric locomotives, airplanes, and sea vessels. It is enough to place the thinnest gold foil between two translucent plates, and such glass will easily reflect intense sunlight;
in miniature form, this material is successfully used in cosmetology in the form of gold threads and additives in expensive skin care products

Well, don’t forget that the “golden calf” remains a global currency equivalent, being the most reliable shield for the economies of different countries and a means for mutual settlements between major powers.

The areas of application of gold are constantly expanding due to the introduction of new technological solutions, especially in the field of microelectronics. Metal market experts are confident that this unique material has a great future in the world of high technology, in which the practical value of gold will be many times greater than its nominal value.

Gold is highly reactive

In the process of heating gold, an increase in reactivity indicators is observed. That is, the metal can be dissolved during the combination of the oxidizing agent and the sulfuric acid concentrate. As the temperature rises, gold reacts with halogens (including their compounds), as well as with certain types of elements of the system. Note that various jewelry is made not from pure metal, but from its alloy with nickel, copper, and so on. Therefore, it is recommended to store gold with substances that contain iodine and chlorine.

Read abstract on geology: “Gold deposits” Page 1