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Technology
Alluvial Surface Mining Technology
Alluvial Surface Mining (ASM) is a form of surface mining used to recover heavy minerals such as gold from sand and gravel beds, including stream beds, known as placer deposits. In some cases these deposits can be removed mechanically by agitating the sand and gravel in simple pans. A more sophisticated and efficient way of separating placer minerals from the sand and gravel is a sluice box, a long, shallow box with wooden separators placed along its bottom. As sand and gravel is shaken in the sluice box, lighter sand grains are washed away and heavier metals are left behind. A particularly destructive form of alluvial mining is hydraulic mining, in which pressurized water is used to wash away large amounts of sand and gravel. Dredges are used in other large-scale alluvial mining operations.
The alluvial mining process consists of six stages:
1. Excavate the gold-bearing gravel
2. Transport this material to a recovery plant
3. Wash the gravel to remove clay and separate out large boulders
4. Treat the material to produce a small amount of gold concentrate
5. Dispose the alluvium after the gold has been removed
6. Rehabilitate the area
Technology
Alluvial Surface Mining Technology
Alluvial Surface Mining (ASM) is a form of surface mining used to recover heavy minerals such as gold from sand and gravel beds, including stream beds, known as placer deposits. In some cases these deposits can be removed mechanically by agitating the sand and gravel in simple pans. A more sophisticated and efficient way of separating placer minerals from the sand and gravel is a sluice box, a long, shallow box with wooden separators placed along its bottom. As sand and gravel is shaken in the sluice box, lighter sand grains are washed away and heavier metals are left behind. A particularly destructive form of alluvial mining is hydraulic mining, in which pressurized water is used to wash away large amounts of sand and gravel. Dredges are used in other large-scale alluvial mining operations.
The alluvial mining process consists of six stages:
1. Excavate the gold-bearing gravel
2. Transport this material to a recovery plant
3. Wash the gravel to remove clay and separate out large boulders
4. Treat the material to produce a small amount of gold concentrate
5. Dispose the alluvium after the gold has been removed
6. Rehabilitate the area
Technology
Alluvial Surface Mining Technology
Alluvial Surface Mining (ASM) is a form of surface mining used to recover heavy minerals such as gold from sand and gravel beds, including stream beds, known as placer deposits. In some cases these deposits can be removed mechanically by agitating the sand and gravel in simple pans. A more sophisticated and efficient way of separating placer minerals from the sand and gravel is a sluice box, a long, shallow box with wooden separators placed along its bottom. As sand and gravel is shaken in the sluice box, lighter sand grains are washed away and heavier metals are left behind. A particularly destructive form of alluvial mining is hydraulic mining, in which pressurized water is used to wash away large amounts of sand and gravel. Dredges are used in other large-scale alluvial mining operations.
The alluvial mining process consists of six stages:
1. Excavate the gold-bearing gravel
2. Transport this material to a recovery plant
3. Wash the gravel to remove clay and separate out large boulders
4. Treat the material to produce a small amount of gold concentrate
5. Dispose the alluvium after the gold has been removed
6. Rehabilitate the area