Many people want to feel like a prospector and, having a walk in nature, process part of the gold-bearing rock. But not only as an experiment, many would like to earn a living this way. Is artisanal gold mining legal and how can I get a license?

Most in a simple way extraction is manual, using a tray. This method is only suitable for loose deposits. It is usually used in shallow waters with a strong current, that is, in rivers that originate in the mountains.

Finding gold in the river

This method can also be used without a tray. The method is suitable for beginners and does not require any investments. It is enough to take a basin and go to a place where, apparently, there is gold. Next, immerse the bottom sand in the basin and rinse it little by little under running water. This ensures that the sand will gradually go away, and only large rocks will remain at the bottom. After extracting very large stones, you will have to manually extract gold from the concentrate.

Mining with a tray allows you to get about a hundred milligrams of gold per day. As a rule, this is barely enough "for food", so gold mining mainly takes place in developing countries.

It is believed that another similar method, using the so-called passer, is much more profitable. This is the name of a special long wooden tray, knocked down from several. The device is installed near the stream, water is supplied to it, flowing by gravity along the conduit. As a rule, such a conduit is made manually. Upstream, water is drawn.

The passage itself is installed at a slight slope, and special rubber mats with ribs are laid on its bottom. A sheet of iron with pre-punched holes is installed on top of the rugs. The rock is poured directly onto the sheet, it must be mixed with a shovel during the extraction process. In this case, small fractions fall into the washing tray, and large fractions move aside. Particles of gold are set on a rug, waste rock is carried away by water. A few hours later, the gold is removed along with the rugs.

Gold mining in the world

The exceptions are America and Australia. In these countries, such a license can be purchased for as little as $30, so anyone can become a miner. Such an industry does not usually bring in the income that the average resident of the country receives, so it is rather a hobby. About a ton of metal per year is contributed by small miners to the world's supply of the precious metal.

In Russia, artisanal mining is prohibited and punishable by restriction of freedom. And if this is done by a group, then they can be conditionally imprisoned for seven years.

Many experts believe that it is necessary to reduce the cost of a gold mining license, by analogy with America. The fact is that due to the ban, approximately a tenth of all mined metal falls on illegal mining with subsequent illegal sale. All this does not bring profit to the state.

Another method of non-industrial gold mining is the search for precious metal using a metal detector. A metal detector is a geophysical device that has the ability to influence metal or metal-containing objects in the ground. Each detector is equipped with an antenna in the form of a ring or an ellipse. Using such an antenna, the device emits electromagnetic waves that cause a certain current in metals. Due to this current, the metal generates a reference signal, which the device receives, and determines how far the target is.

In order to determine the principle of operation of a metal detector, it is necessary to adopt such a concept as an anomaly. It refers to any changes in the structure of the soil. Since metals are not found in the soil in the usual state, their presence is considered as an anomaly. When the metal detector detects anomalies, it reacts to them with sound signals: a change in sound signals is considered a sign of the presence of metal in the ground.

The problem is that gold particles tend to be small. But metal objects of various origins, iron ore or ores of other metals in the earth are quite common. This leads to a false alarm of the device and the search for gold is difficult. There are certain instruments that can distinguish gold from other metals, but they are in the more expensive category.

When buying a metal detector, the characteristics to consider include:

• sensitivity limit of the device;
• search depth;
• metal recognition.

And there are also specially designed devices for searching for gold underwater, which is very convenient. A good metal detector, with which it will really be possible to find something worthwhile and make money on it, will be very expensive. Such devices often have a large search area, high sensitivity and the ability to adjust various parameters, such as search depth. Often they are equipped with a color screen and have additional functions.

An important option is noise reduction. This helps to weed out other electromagnetic signals. In particular, some metal detectors may behave inappropriately if there is a transformer substation or other strong emitter of electromagnetic waves within the search area.

Non-industrial extraction methods

So, gold was found, but most often gold nuggets have impurities, for example, silver or quartz. Or when mining, too small particles of gold are obtained, mixed with sand or concentrate. In order to extract gold without involving industrial equipment, there are three main ways:

• amalgamation with mercury;
• cyanidation;
• chlorination.

The first method is used if the gold fractions do not exceed a millimeter in diameter. The technology is simple: the metal dissolves in mercury and an amalgam is obtained. Then the rock is separated using a fine mesh. In the resulting solution, gold is about half, it is obtained by evaporating the solution. Now this method is not very often used due to the fact that the gold is not very pure, and also because mercury vapor is very harmful to humans.

The second method includes leaching, concentration and purification of the metal. Leaching occurs due to the interaction of cyanide with oxygen, after which the concentrate is removed using activated carbon, filtered and calcined. In this case, it is possible to obtain a purer metal, but cyanide vapor is even more dangerous than mercury vapor. In essence, zoning is a hydrometallurgical process. At first, only potassium cyanide was used for this method, then they also switched to calcium cyanide. In addition, it was found that fine crushing gives better results compared to coarse.

The third method involves the use of hydrochloric acid and chlorine, which dissolve the gold, after which it is fused into an ingot.

Gold mining under license

It is legally allowed to mine gold only at industrial facilities where the volume of the deposit is registered by the state. During the exploration of the deposit, reporting documentation is prepared, geological work is carried out, which can only be done by a large enterprise. This work includes determining the quota for metal mining, obtaining a land allotment, and so on.

For a while it was supposed to make the procedure for obtaining a license the same as in Australia or America. A simplified procedure for obtaining a license would enable many to start the process of gold mining and, perhaps, even make money on it. A bill was even registered, but the issue was dropped. Opponents of the law argued that artisanal mining is meaningless, since the volume of metal is small and the industrial method is enough. And besides, working with lead, cyanide and mercury is very dangerous for humans.

Two types of bypassing the gold mining ban are currently in use:

• Registration of an agreement with a mining company. In this case, a subsoil use agreement is concluded with an enterprise that develops the mine under license. The agreement includes a provision that a private person will collect metal from the worked-out areas of the open deposit.
• In some cases, for an additional fee, you can include a prospector in the staff. In this case, he will absolutely legally mine gold.

Most of all, artisanal gold mining is widespread in African countries, where it is actually a way of survival for many people. Several million are involved in this field. In these countries, artisanal mining is carried out, as a rule, at deposits that have already been worked out by industrial companies.

How gold is mined largely depends on where it is located. In most cases, prospectors are looking for this a precious metal along the banks of rivers and streams, since the presence of water is a necessary condition for its effective separation from waste rock.

Before washing, miners first look for an area with a sufficiently high gold content - usually a few grams per ton of rock. To do this, pits several meters deep are beaten along the banks, the rock taken out from one or another depth is washed. If it is possible to detect gold, its content in the rock is determined and a decision is made to start mining.

Gold mining with a simple pan

The simplest washing tray is made of wood or metal and looks like a large cup with a rounded bottom. Films about artisanal gold mining often show how a gold digger scoops up gold-bearing sand with a tray and washes streams or rivers in the water. But in practice, gold sand is very rare, usually a mixture of gravel, small pebbles, sand and other rocks.

It is this mixture, mined in the pit, that is scooped up by the tray. Having approached the water, it is necessary to lower the tray into the water and begin to rotate the rock in it with smooth movements. Interestingly, the large stones do not sink to the bottom of the tray, as might be expected, but move to its edge and fall out. Gradually, all the stones, including the smallest ones, are washed out of the tray, the so-called concentrate remains in it - particles of solid minerals of high density. It is black in color, gold particles are very clearly visible in it - if they were in the washed rock.

Extraction of gold with the help of a tunnel

More professional and profitable is the extraction of gold with the help of a tunnel - a wooden tray knocked down from several boards. It is installed near the stream, water is supplied to it. As a rule, it runs by gravity along a makeshift conduit, water is taken a little upstream.

The tray is at a slight slope, ribbed rubber mats are laid on its bottom. A sheet of iron with holes punched in it is placed on top. Rock is poured on it and stirred with a shovel - small fractions fall into the washing tray, and large stones are raked from the sheet to the side.

When washing, gold particles are retained on the mats, waste rock is carried away by water. After a certain time, usually a few hours, the rugs are carefully removed, and gold is collected from them.

Modern equipment for artisanal gold mining

Currently, many companies offer modern, efficient equipment for artisanal gold mining. In the catalogs you can find a wide variety of installations that can greatly facilitate the work of the prospector. There are both the simplest tunnels, light and comfortable, and complex expensive equipment that pays for itself only if it works in rich gold areas.

In this article:

Gold mining has been carried out since ancient times, when there were no special machines, devices, prepared and explored gold deposits. But even then, gold was mined both for the benefit of the people, and handicraft was secretly carried out. To date, nothing has changed: there are still two . It is believed that for the entire time of the existence of civilization, people were able to extract about 200 tons of precious metal in an artisanal way.

Gold mining methods

Of course, the amount of gold that remains in the ground is much less than at the beginning of the companies' activities, but miners are attracted by the preparedness of the soil and the accuracy of the location of the gold. It is in this way that residents of countries that develop, for example, men in Africa, earn a living. Often gold mining is the main job, people look for the precious metal and sell it illegally for processing and refining gold. And you can also independently engage in refining and remelting of metal.

Especially popular among black diggers are volcanic gold deposits. Since it is there that the metal is on the surface and there is no need to look for equipment for its extraction. Such deposits can be found in Siberia: Khakanja in the Far East, Kuranakhanskoye in Aldan. It is being carried out in pyrite-polymetallic mines in Altai, copper-nickel deposits are being developed in the Krasnoyarsk region. If the gold is deeper in the ground, the diggers have to excavate the rock, which is difficult to do by hand.

Illegal gold mining and responsibility for it

It is believed that every year the prospectors mine about 20 tons of gold illegally. In many countries, artisanal mining of the precious metal by private traders is prohibited. For example, in Russia there is an article criminalizing work in mines or along river banks without a license. Violation of this law can lead to a fine of up to three million rubles, and if the activity was carried out by a group of persons, you can get imprisonment for up to seven years.

To obtain a license to legally mine gold, you must provide all documents representing your purpose, as well as be part of a registered enterprise and follow the gold mining quotas on the site. The process of obtaining a license is long and difficult, so small firms without capital should not count on obtaining a license. To circumvent the law and not answer under the article of the Criminal Code, the prospector has two options:

• Conclude an agreement on mediation with a gold mining company. After that, you can engage in activities on their territory.
• Get into the staff of a gold mining company, which not all enterprises agree to.

In countries such as Australia and the United States, there is a procedure for purchasing a license. A license can be purchased for a year for an individual for $30. This is also driven by tourism. Visitors often want to feel like during the "gold rush" and try to launder gold on the banks of the river. Therefore, the process of obtaining a license is quite fast and, one might say, formal.

What do they do with the mined gold?

Since illegal gold cannot be sold and sent for refining, people process and refine it themselves. The further fate of illegally mined gold can develop according to the following schemes:

• Amalgamation. The method is suitable for fine particles obtained by laundering. It consists in the combination of the precious metal with mercury and the subsequent separation of the amalgam from other elements. At the final stage, gold and mercury are also separated.
• Cyanidation. Gold goes through several stages, including leaching. The purity of the resulting precious metal is much higher than after the previous method. But cyanide fumes are dangerous to health.
• Chlorination using chlorine and hydrochloric acid.

Of course, the extraction of gold by artisanal methods is a difficult physical work. But in the end, she fed more than one family. While economic instability is observed in countries, the activities of black diggers cannot be avoided.

During its existence, humanity has mined and processed more than one hundred thousand tons of gold. About half of this reserve is used in jewelry, one third is kept in state banks and one fourth is involved in industrial enterprises. Gold mining by amateurs in the artisanal way has been going on for a very long time.

All the gold mined in the history of mankind will be a cube with an edge of 21 meters.

Several methods for extracting the yellow metal

The main share of gold is mined using two methods - sand washing with a jet of water and mining in mines.

Artisanal gold mining is carried out in those places where industrial methods have already been developed, and when the latter have become unprofitable, artisanal mining can give good results on the remnants of the former “luxury”. Basically, gold is mined by people from developing countries, financial position which pushes citizens in search of alternative income. In Africa, Asia, South America, more than 10 million people are engaged in gold mining in their spare time. They take risks to help their families make ends meet. This method of gold mining is easily accessible to uninitiated people. To imagine how gold is mined independently in an artisanal way, you can watch thematic videos shot by numerous yellow metal hunters.

Artisanal gold mining in Africa provides income for millions of people.

Quite important for gold mining are gold deposits formed due to volcanic activity. Such deposits lie close to the earth's surface. Among them are Khakanja in the Far East, Kuranakhanskoye in Aldan and many others. Gold is also mined from pyrite-polymetallic deposits of Rudny Altai, igneous copper-nickel deposits located in the north of the Krasnoyarsk region, and gold-bearing skarns, which are located in Olkhovka and Chibizhka at the junction of the Minusinsk Basin and the Eastern Sayan.

In many respects, primary deposits are inferior to placer deposits. The MAIN advantage of alluvial deposits is that their development requires much less funds.

These deposits are conducive to the fact that they would be mining gold "the old fashioned way" - manually. That is why, in the Soviet years, the state was actively developing alluvial deposits, putting aside the primary "on the far shelf." The decrease in the intensity of alluvial gold mining, which occurs in last years, is capable of increasing unemployment in Siberia and the Far East, which may provoke an outflow of the population from these parts of the country.

The technology of washing gold particles in a tray has been known for a long time.

Mining of gold by miners is carried out by centuries-old technology of washing particles of precious metal in a tray. This technology has come to today from ancient times, when washing was done using sheepskins. It happens that rains can wash gold into the river. Prospectors hunt for such “consequences” of the elements.

One of the most debilitating and difficult methods is to dig out (presumably) gold-bearing rock with a shovel. Since in this case the desired gold is mined only by hand, the whole work is as follows: a small amount of The rock is dug up, then washed in a small tray. Heavy, unwanted metals are crushed to sand, then washed again. Then the most exhausting - the careful selection of gold particles, which takes place manually.

Facts about artisanal mining in Russia and other countries

In many countries, including Russia, artisanal mining is illegal gold mining. In the Russian Federation, gold mining is prohibited in the absence of an agreement with gold mining companies that have a license to conduct gold mining operations. The latter is very expensive.

In contrast to Russia, in Australia and America, a license to mine the precious metal costs mere pennies - $30. Gold mining tourism is very developed, therefore all citizens have the opportunity, without fear of punishment, to arm themselves with a metal detector and look for their small "increase in salary". Small-scale gold miners contribute about a ton per year to the world's gold production. Such a mass, although impressive, does not affect the price of the precious metal in any way.

In Australia and America, having bought an inexpensive license, anyone can become a prospector.

Artisanal gold mining was carried out by the ancient Greeks, who mined it by washing gold-bearing sand on sheep skins. The essence of the method is that the denser types of metals settle on the grate, while the less dense ones leave it. Since gold is one of the densest materials, it is mostly held up in the lattice.

Mining for gold is extremely difficult and inefficient. the ancient Greeks had no choice, just like today's developing country miners.

But there is also positive points: this technology does not provide for the construction of chemical plants, expensive equipment, high production costs for rock crushing. Washing of the rock is not used in scattered gold deposits, where the size of the precious metal particles does not reach one millimeter and in deposits where the rock does not separate from gold after crushing.

By the end of the nineteenth century, virtually all gold was mined using the extraction method from gold ores. This method was chosen because of the depletion of river deposits, in which there was less and less gold.
Now there is a mining of ore gold, which is mined from the bowels earth's crust and chemically separated from various foreign impurities.

Non-industrial methods for extracting precious metal from ore

There are several ways to extract gold without the involvement of industrial equipment:

• Mercury amalgamation;
• cyanidation and flotation;
• Chlorination.

The first method involves amalgation of sand with a fraction of gold not exceeding one millimeter in size. The technology is quite simple: the metal is dissolved in mercury to obtain an amalgam. Then it is separated from the rock by filtering through a fine-meshed tissue. In the resulting alloy, gold makes up about half of the total mass. To separate it, mercury is evaporated.

Mercury amalgamation was known and widely used in the Middle Ages.

The second method includes leaching, concentration and a purification step. The precious metal is leached due to the interaction of cyanide with oxygen, then the concentrate is removed using Activated carbon, filtration and calcination.

Cyanidation produces a purer metal than amalgation..

The disadvantage of this method is the high danger of cyanide fumes. Cyanidation is essentially a hydrometallurgical process. During the first years of use this method only potassium cyanide was used, later, calcium cyanide became widespread. With the development of this type of gold mining, it became clear that fine grinding gives better results than the previously used coarse grinding of ores. For grinding various ores, tube and ball mills are used, which operate on closed classifiers. Now combined air-mechanical agitators are used.

The third method involves the use of hydrochloric acid and chlorine, which can dissolve gold. After that, the gold is sifted from the harder inclusions and melted into an ingot.

Is it possible to mine gold in Russia?

We must not forget that illegal gold mining in Russia is considered a criminal offense and is punishable by restriction of freedom for several years. This is spelled out in Article 191 of the Criminal Code. Russian Federation. You can increase the punishment to seven years by mining gold in groups.

Many scientists are convinced that the practice of the United States and Canada, where a gold mining license is easily bought for a small amount, would be appropriate in Russia. The connection of companies and small gold miners can significantly increase the extraction of the precious metal.

The consequences of the introduction of a ban on independent gold mining was that one tenth of gold mining is illegal, that is, bypassing the state treasury.

Fundamentals of Artisanal Gold Mining

Artisanal gold mining is based on the following principles.

The water flow supports lighter particles in weight, and acts on heavier ones in inverse proportion to their weight, depositing them on the bottom.

The translational movement of the masses that are on the surface, which is under an inclination and which is affected by the flow of water, depends entirely on the speed of the water, which is less at the bottom than at the surface. Because of this, when flushing occurs, larger diameter grains are most affected, while smaller grains remain motionless on the bottom.

During the precipitation of a mixture that is in a loosened state in the form of a semi-liquid mass, smaller grains pass into the gaps between the large ones.

The further fate of gold mining

Many scientists are struggling to find a new source for the precious metal, because, according to some estimates, gold reserves will run out in half a century. One of the most promising methods is gold leaching.

An advanced method of mining from the bottom of the Bering Sea.

In addition to chemical methods, the development of the water element - the ocean - can help discover new deposits. Quite often, sea placers of gold are found, not to mention the ocean floor, about which little is known at all. It is likely that there, under water, are the richest reserves of the precious metal.

MINING WORKS (а. gold digging; n. Graberei, Grabereibetrieb; f. orpaillage; and. ocupaciones de lavadores, labores de buscadores) - a set of mining and exploitation work carried out by an artel of workers who voluntarily united for the extraction of minerals. Diligence has been known in Rus' for a long time. The formation and development of prospecting work in Russia was facilitated by the "Mountain Privilege" published in 1719, which stated: "... everyone is allowed to and everyone is given free will, no matter what rank and dignity he was in all places, both on his own and on others lands - to search, dig, melt, boil and clean all kinds of metals: in other words - gold, silver, ". Until the middle of the 19th century. The development of the gold industry in Russia is largely due to the activities of pioneer prospectors who explored the vast "waste lands" of the country and revealed numerous ore and alluvial deposits and entire gold-bearing regions. Prospectors alone or in small artels penetrated remote hard-to-reach and uninhabited areas in order to find and extract precious metal. The equipment of a prospector-digger of those ancient times usually consisted of weapons, knapsacks with modest belongings, a pickaxe, a shovel and a washing tray (ladle). Many of the miners were reputed to be talented searchers-discoverers and organizers-gold miners. They developed and introduced many technical innovations and devices that became the property of domestic equipment and technology for prospecting and industrial development of precious metal deposits.

In pre-revolutionary times, the gold mined by miners was bought up by gold-alloy laboratories and gold miners. According to statistical data, the proportion of artisanal gold mining to the total in the country ranged from 100% in 1841 (10.8 tons) to 57% in 1913 (61.8 tons). The total number of miners in some years exceeded 150 thousand people.

The artisanal extraction of precious and scarce non-ferrous metals is carried out on the basis of large artels equipped with modern high-performance mining and processing equipment. Organizationally, the artel is a cooperative mining enterprise operating on the principles of full cost accounting, self-sufficiency and collective contracting with payment for the final result.

Prospecting work is carried out at deposits or their sections, the development of which by the mining enterprise considers it inexpedient on its own. Mining is carried out by artels within the mining allotment of the enterprise in accordance with projects approved in the prescribed manner. Payment for ore, metal, concentrate, etc., handed over by the artel of prospectors of a mining enterprise, is made in the manner prescribed by current legislation. As the deposit (plot) is worked out, the miners' artel is obliged to bring the lands disturbed during the miners' work into a safe and suitable state for their use in the national economy. In addition to mining operations for the extraction of minerals, the artel of miners can carry out exploration of deposits, as well as general construction, logging, road, transport and other types of work both for a mining enterprise that is in contractual relations with it for the extraction of minerals, and for located in the areas of activity of this artel of geological organizations and institutions of the executive committees of local Soviets of People's Deputies on the basis of agreements (not to the detriment of the performance of mining operations). The procedure and special conditions for the conduct of prospecting work and the specifics of the production and economic activities of the artels of prospectors are regulated by the current legislation of the CCCP.