pure Gold Bars

Gold original Markeet
       Mining
 The ancient quest for gold

It is believed by many that gold was the first metal known to mankind By the time of recorded history gold was already considered sacred and a symbol of wealth and social rank Myths about gold may be found in...More
 Modern times

Gold ’ s unique relationship with human society and civilisation has only grown during the modern era The mythic and cultural impact of gold has remained at the heart of its fascination while the growing appreciation of gold ’ s...More
 Open pit mines

Open pits are suitable for mining large deposits near the surface so all the excavation is ' top down '. An open - pit mine is usually based on lowering the floor of the open mine in a series of...More
 Underground mines

Underground mines vary more than open pit mines as the rock formations and conditions found deep underground are so diverse The deepest gold mines in South Africa are located some five kilometres below ground although the mine depth varies significantly...More
 Long hole stoping

The long hole method is suitable where geologists discover large strong blocks of ore contained in surrounding rock The strength of the block is crucial as the technique entails the creation of an open space ( known as a ‘...More
 Cut and fill

This technique involves the creation of top and bottom access ( as in long hole stoping ), however the ore extracted in horizontal slices ( or lifts ) from the bottom After a slice is blasted and the broken ore...More
 Cyanidation

Gold cyanidation ( also known as the cyanide process ) is a method used for extracting the majority of mined gold from its ore The technique works by converting gold into a water soluble complex Water is added to the...More
 Floatation

As cyanide will also react to copper where this mineral is present in gold ore a process known as floatation is used in place of cyanidation In this technique after the addition of special chemicals small sulphide particles can be...More
 Smelting

The gold extracted from ore is further purified by smelting A chemical flux is mixed with the metal which is then melted in a furnace at over C causing the gold to separate from most of the impurities – such...More
Less is more: removing impurities from gold

 The extraction of gold from ore and refining it into ‘pure’ gold involves physical and chemical processes conducted on an industrial scale. Most major gold mines process their gold-bearing ore on site to produce ‘doré’ bars of up to 92% purity.
 Refineries

 Mines send doré bars to refineries around the world, where the remaining impurities are removed to create gold of 99.5% purity or greater.