Hello everyone, I am glad to have this session with you. In previous classes, we talked about the followings;

• Introduction to Gold

• Brief History of Gold

Should you have missed first two classes, you only have little catch ups to do.

Today, our focus is on next topic, which is Gold Processing.

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What comes to your mind when you hear about mining? You thought about dirty people working underground, huh?

People like these

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Or like these, right?

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Actually mining ore is one out of many complex stages involved in gold processing. Prior to extraction of any gold, couple of other process such as exploration and development precedes it, gold deposit size, and best extraction procedures are considered.

Now, watch this......

It takes one to two decades before any gold mine would be ready to produce material which can be refined.

Appreciate gold!

Exploration of Gold

Let me help you understand value of gold, not from its monetary value but in terms of it scarcity.

The probability that discovery of gold will lead to a mine being developed is 0.001. Not more than 10% of world gold deposits have sufficient amount of gold that will justify further development. I want you to read this again.

The second stage of gold mining process is gold mine development. It involves considerable amount of infrastructure, construction and planning. Mining license takes years to obtain, though it varies depending on country and location.

Gold Mining Operation

You should get clues from this video.....

It takes 10 to 30 years, the operation represents productive life of a mine, when ore is exhausted, then processed into G O L D. Actually, nothing last forever, so are mines. In this stage, rock and ore are transformed into metallic alloy of reasonable purity- so we have something called dore, it contains 60-90% GOLD.

Just like bitcoin, miners get more reward when price is high, huh? Same thing is applied when it comes to selection of ore to mine. When gold price increase, mining low-grade ore is profitable. But when there is fall in price, miners do not have any option than to focus on mines with high-grade ore.

Decommissioning

When mining operation stops, probably because remaining deposit is uneconomical or ore body has been exhausted, the focus is on removing all facilities. And sites must be rehabilitated according to mining laws in respective countries. Closure of mine is a complex process, as the company would be required by law to monitor site for years after mine has been closed.

Post-closure

Before reclamation

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After closure, land will be revegetated, rehabilitated, and cleansed, so it can be habitable for humans.

After reclamation

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This Gold course was inspired by @goldmatters, and brought to you by @autofreak. If you have missed the introduction to the course, click here so you can catch up.

If I were you, I will soak every bit of information and do more research on the subject matters. To receive up-to-date information about this steemit gold course, follow @autofreak.

If you want to receive realtime and industry information about gold, follow @goldmatters and @goldmoney on steemit.

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However, if you have any question, please do not hesitate to ask.

See ya tomorrow.