Core sample from Raposos mine, Brazil
Core sample from Raposos mine, Brazil.
Image provided courtesy of Goldkammer / © Studio Hamm
A promising look below the Earth’s surface.
After thousands of years of gold mining, most of the easily-discovered ore deposits in mountains and rivers have been developed into mines and many are completely depleted. As a result, mining companies now have to search for payable gold ores far below the Earth’s surface.
Exploratory drilling with special hollow diamond-tipped drill-bits provides cylindrical cores like this which can be sampled and assayed to reveal the gold content of the geological strata and indicate whether further exploration is worthwhile. The glitter of gold can be clearly seen with the naked eye in this core sample, which has a gold grade of 38.7 grams per tonne of ore. This is an extremely promising result – after all, mining begins to pay off at grades of 2.5 grams of gold per tonne of ore.
L x Dia: 25 x 5 cm
Text © Goldkammer
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