On October 27, the Henan Provincial Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources made a major breakthrough in prospecting in the area of Weishan City, Zhuzhuang Town, Tongbai County, and discovered a very large gold mine. A total of 16 gold ore bodies were found, and the preliminary estimate obtained gold reserves was 31.55 tons, which is a very large gold mine. By the end of this year, it is expected to exceed 50 tons.
Many people have no idea of 31.55 tons of gold. Today we will take a look at the knowledge of gold mining.
Distribution of gold mines in our country
The top 10 provinces in China's gold production are: Shandong Province, Henan Province, Jiangxi Province, Yunnan Province, Fujian Province, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Shaanxi Province, Hunan Province, Gansu Province, Anhui Province.
Henan Province is rich in gold resources, second only to Shandong Province. It is mainly distributed in Xiaoqinling, Funiu Mountain, Bears Ears Mountain, Tongbai Mountain and other places. The new gold mine that has just been discovered is in the gold distribution belt of Henan Province.
China's more famous gold mines include: Sanshan Island Submarine Gold Mine, Sanshan Island Gold Mine, Linglong Gold Mine, Jiaojia Gold Mine, Jinqingding Gold Mine, Xincheng Gold Mine, Xinli Gold Mine, Xiadian Gold Mine, Qixia Gold Mine, Cangshang Gold Mine, Guocheng Gold Mine, Daliuhang Gold Mine, Pengjiakuan Gold Mine, Heilangou Gold Mine, Jiuqu Gold Mine, Wangershan Gold Mine, Luoshan Gold Mine, Rushan Gold Mine, Muping Gold Mine, Xiejiagou Gold Mine, etc.
Why 31.55 tons can become a mega gold mine
The figure of 31.55 does not seem very large.
But as we all know, gold is a rare metal.
According to the bibliography "Mineral Industry Requirements Reference Manual", rock gold mines with reserves of more than 20 tons and placer gold mines of more than 8 tons are enough to be called "large".
How much gold is there for 31.55 tons?
The density of gold is 19.32 tons/m3, and the volume of 31.55 tons of gold is about 1.7 m3. It's about the size of your fridge at home. At first glance, it is only such a large piece, it looks very easy to dig out!
In fact, nature's gold rarely exists in a whole piece. The 1.7 cubic meters of gold is actually scattered like fine sand or dust in a large pile of rock. The most common of these rocks are hydrothermal veins containing sulfides such as quartz or pyrite, also known as quartz vein-type ore bodies.
The highest known grade gold mine in China is the Jilin Huadian and Heilongjiang Sandaowanzi gold mine, one ton of ore can extract 30 kg of gold, followed by the Konglonggou gold mine in Baiyu County, Ganzi Prefecture, Sichuan, where one ton of ore can extract 7.6 kg of gold, but these are extreme cases. In China, a ton of ore can extract 5 grams of gold, which is regarded as a rich ore.
Based on 5 grams per ton of refining, 31.55 tons of gold need to be mined for 6 million to 10 million tons of ore, enough to mine for 10 years.
How valuable is the newly discovered gold mine?
The current price of gold is about 370 yuan a gram, and we can easily calculate that 31.55 tons of gold is worth about 11.67 billion yuan.
But that doesn't mean the gold mine is worth 11.67 billion yuan. From the discovery of gold to the production of finished gold, which also involves mining, refining and other processes, the whole process requires a lot of investment, including:
Exploration certificates, mining licenses, exploration drilling costs, feasibility study costs;
Land acquisition fees, business licenses, safety permits, environmental impact assessment permits;
Roads, offices, dormitories, laboratories, core depots, explosive depots, spare parts depots;
Mining roadways, ventilation equipment, transportation equipment, concentrators, tailings reservoirs;
Wait a minute.
According to the calculation of 1 million tons per year, the mining cycle is about 10 years, during which costs such as workers' wages need to be paid.
Therefore, it is estimated that the price will be no more than 5 billion to the mining company (the numerical estimate here is not rigorous, we do not have to be too real), but the value of this gold mine is measured in money, that should be billions of yuan.
10 years of mining can bring huge taxes to the local area, can solve the employment of hundreds of thousands of people, and promote the development of geology, mining and other fields, which is a no doubt.
Adverse effects of gold mining
Some people say that when gold is discovered, the local area suffers.
This makes sense because the damage to the environment from gold mining is too severe.
Gold ore can be extracted after many steps of refining to extract a few grams of gold, and the remaining 90% or more of the tailings will produce a large number of toxic by-products, such as lead, mercury, arsenic, thallium, cadmium and other heavy metals, as well as adsorption of cyanide and other toxic gold dissolving agents, if metallurgical tailings, wastewater direct discharge, will pollute the land, water sources, serious will be at least thirty years without grass.
There is a contradiction between economic benefits and ecological environment, depending on how the local trade-offs are made.