How Gold Goes From Nuggets To Your Ring
It’s easy to look at your wedding band or gold anniversary ring and ask yourself, “how on Earth could something so small be so valuable?” But, in the case of precious commodities, it’s the smaller and rarer substances that are often harder to extract - and become valuable not only because they are difficult to reach, but because of the effort and energy spent in the extraction and mining of these metals.
Gold is just such a precious metal, a metal more rare than silver but not quite as rare as platinum. As an element on the periodic table, it seems to be easy to assume that gold is relatively easy to find and acquire. The truth is, gold mining has always been a thorough, difficult, but oftentimes rewarding process.
How does gold get from nuggets to your ring - and not only nuggets - but from the ground to your finger? Explore this article to find out.
Gold Mining Techniques
First it helps to know that not all gold is simply dug out of the ground in a golden nugget form. There are several ways to mine for gold:
Gold panning
Many of us know about gold panning from our images of 48ers - gold rushers - in the 19th Century who would dig through rivers and streams, sifting through all of the materials they could find in order to find that shiny, yellowy metal.
Widely regarded as a “manual” technique for finding gold, panning takes advantage of gold’s denser makeup, which makes it sink to the bottom of a pan filled with water. When the rest of the elements from a stream or river are separated from this heap of water, gold panners hope they see some gold waiting for them at the bottom of a pan.
This is an easy, inexpensive way to find gold, but it is also the most inconsistent.
Hard Rock Mining
Perhaps the most famous way of mining for a new material, hard rock mining is just what it sounds: digging through rock, looking for chunks of gold. Most of the world’s gold is produced from hard rock mining, and large mines typically employ this strategy.
Gold is also mined from other hard rock mines in which gold may be a byproduct, including copper mines.
Metal Detecting
Metal detecting is popular as a beach-dwelling hobby across coastal areas. Metal detectors will give a positive reading if gold is found within a yard or so of the surface that is scanned. Like gold panning, this an easy way to “search for” gold, but not necessarily an easy way to “find” it. The difference seems small, but it has big implications for the amount of gold found by metal detectors.
Gold Processing
After extraction, gold often needs to be processed, especially if it has been extracted from hard rock mining. The reason for this is that gold may often exist with cyanide and other metals, and in order for pure gold to be extracted it needs to be treated first. This is typically done by such processes as adding zinc to the gold ore solution.
Once gold has been extracted in purer forms and separated from other metals, it is then ready to be melted down, cast, and assembled by metal workers and jewelers. At this point, gold is often mixed with other metals to produce a stronger alloy, such as a gold-copper or gold-silver alloy.
Jewelry Assembly
Gold is easily melted down into casts so that it can be shaped and molded; as a durable, malleable metal, it is relatively easy to use gold in jewelry. Gold can be poured into ring molds in order to produce a solid, consistent structure to be used in rings.
Gold can also be pounded and shaped, even when it is in its solid form. Because gold is a soft but durable metal, it is ideal for pounding and shaping.
Oftentimes, gold will be mixed with other metals like silver and copper to reinforce the strength of a ring - this is what produces less-than-24-karat gold rings. 24 karats of gold indicates the presence of pure gold, while 18-or-14-karat gold contains around half to three-quarters gold.
Jewelers an use individual gold pieces to assemble, repair, and replace jewelry, as well, completing the process of extracting gold from the Earth and putting it into your ring.
If you’re looking for a way to sell this gold for recycling back into the “gold economy,” you’ve found it. At JewelryPaq, you can sell your gold rings, earrings, and other gold jewelry for melting down and re-use for industrial purposes, generating quick cash for your family.
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