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Gold is usually found in two forms, in two forms, in veins or lodes; and in river beds or near them where the metal is called alluvial gold. Gold is also found with other elements such as copper, iron but usually with silver. The simplest form of gold mining is panning, which applies to alluvial gold. The miner shovels sand and gravel that have gold in them into a pan which he tilts slightly and works with a rotation motion. The particles of gold, being the heaviest, sink to the bottom of the pan while the lighter materials are washed away. It was this method while being wasteful, which was practiced almost entirely during the opening of the great gold fields. . . M. P. |
