What You Need to Know about Gold Mining
The process of gold mining dates back to the Roman Period and since then, there have been many methods by which it is done. Each technique follows a very intricate process and different mining companies around the world settle for the method that they believe will be most beneficial to their business. Here are some of those methods:
a. Placer Mining
• Gold Panning – this is the method of manually sorting gold out using a shallow pan. This is effective because gold tends to settle beneath everything else.
• Metal Detecting – this is done, of course, with the help of a metal detector; and you basically need to walk around and have the detector scan all surfaces for traces of metal that could be gold.
• Sluicing – makes use of a man-made sluice box
• Dredging – Dredges are basically small machines that float on water and are operated by two people
b. Hard Rock Mining – If gold is not found in loose sediment, and instead is embedded in a rock, then you collect gold by hard rock mining.
c. By-product Gold Mining – This is the process of producing gold only as a by-product and not really the main product being collected just like in copper mines.
Mining is not an easy job. Apart from it having to follow a truly rigorous process, mining is also very dangerous. In fact through the years, the world has seen many diseases and injuries connected to this ancient occupation.
a. Physical Hazards – mining has given way to a number of traumatic injuries, some even fatal. These could be caused by the following: rock fall, fires, explosions, equipment accidents, falls from heights and electrocution.
b. Chemical Hazards – exposure to hydrogen cyanide gas can be truly hazardous. It can be deadly in increased levels. More so, the release of arsenic and other poisonous chemicals that tend to go along with cyanide poisoning is very dangerous.
c. Biological Hazards – miners can acquire many tropical diseases such as malaria, dengue fever, loptospirosis and ankylstomiasis.
d. Ergonomic Hazards – fatigue
e. Psychosocial Hazards – drug and alcohol abuse is common to miners
Being aware of these hazards can prevent accidents from happening. Gold mining stocks are an excellent way to earn lots of money- it could give anyone unlimited wealth. But you need to always ensure everyone’s safety to avoid any problems from taking place.
When you decide to invest in gold mining stocks, make sure you do your due diligence on the record of the company. You not only need to look at the expected returns but also at the management and safety record of the company. One big accident could see your stock values plummet so you need to make sure that the company has an excellent track record.
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