For millennia, mankind has scoured the hillsides in search of vast mineral wealth. Many individuals sacrificed friends and family in exchange for the solitude one finds in the great outdoors, and they would endure it for many months or even years, risking their health and perhaps their sanity. Yet a large number of people owed their sustenance to the mines of their areas, as they provided many jobs, and the wealth that came out of the ground actually built society, as I will explain later in this article. There is far too much to this topic for me to cover in one post. So I might make a couple more relating to this one.
To define mining, it is the extracting of minerals and their ores from the ground. There are various types, such as underground and open pit mining. It generally involves blasting the ore, and then concentrating it somehow or shipping it straight to a mill for processing. The concentrates are then smelted or electrolytically refined into pure metals depending on what is being processed. And then the final product is ready to go to market. That's pretty much it in a nutshell. But there is also placer mining, of which most interests me. The process that causes gold to concentrate in pockets or on bedrock is known as hydrologic sorting. Gold is 19 and some change times heavier than water.
The heaviest sands are known as black sands, containing titanium and iron usually, average around 11 or 12 times heavier than water. The average rock ranges anywhere from a few times to perhaps 10 times heavier than water, depending on composition. lead is around 12 times heavier than water. So as you can see, Gold has a great density, which also allows for recovery using sluice boxes and gold pans. It regulates how gold deposits in a stream as well. A placer mine is simply one which processes stream gravels, concentrating the gold that is free in the gravel, and discharging the rocks and gravel back into the stream. It is favored because extensive tunnels are not needed, nor are timbers, nor heavy machinery. There is no need even for blasting usually. Overhead is much reduced over hard rock mining.
But I will get into all the sciences later on. This post, I want to cover the importance of mining. To start off with, I wanted to share with you the words on a plaque I found many years ago...
WHAT MINING MEANS TO AMERICANS
by The American Mining Congress
"Most people pass their days with no thought of the role mining plays in their lives. They know where to buy the things they want, but seldom consider the origins. Food comes from a grocery - electricity from a wall socket - tools from a hardware store - and so on. If we do think of how these things are created, many of us probably begin with farms, factories, and power stations.
"In fact, they all begin with mining.
"Without minerals, we could not till our soil, build our machines, supply our energy, transport our goods, or maintain any society beyond the most primitive. Our horn of plenty starts with a hole in the ground.
"We are in trouble if we forget that!"
Actually, it kind of reminds me of a joke... A young child and mother who spent their lives in a city, visited the country. The little kid spots a pile of milk cartons beside the road. He thinks a moment or two and shouts "Look mom! A cow's nest!"
The large majority of people do not know and do not care where the things come from that make their cell phones work. They don't know that if it weren't for mining, there would be no aluminum to make the cans that hold your favorite beverage. Ah yes, you will say but we have recycling. Recycling is fine, but the problem is that no society on earth reuses 100% of the metals used. Eventually supplies would diminish, and prices would go up when demand could not be met, making you pay more in the store. Healthcare services would go up, food prices would skyrocket. You would be reduced to mere slaves because you would work all day to just barely feed yourselves in the end.
Mining is where it all came from to begin with, and it is what ensures that our standard of living does not decline. It helps keep prices in check. But also, I want to say that it generates real wealth. Few industries in our world actually create wealth. Mining is one of them.
When a worker gets paid, he has to pay his bills. These companies also have workers, that are paid from other people paying their bills. And so a huge cycle starts where the only thing that happens is, money is redistributed, with the government taking a percentage every time it changes hands. Without new wealth creation, this kind of system will eventually impoverish the people. Mining on the other hand, creates wealth. A prospector pulls an ounce of gold out of a stream. He then sells it for say, $1500. The $1500 is spent on food, and other supplies, fueling the economy. But not only is the money in the economy, but the ounce of gold is too. Whereas, if you work a 9 to 5, you are paid with money that came from other people, and you spend it again at other companies who pay their people. Nothing is created. It is only transferred. This is the manner in which mining has built civilization as we know it.
It is my goal, over time, to educate as many people as possible on the truths of mining, so that it might be supported and not hated by the general public that may or may not listen to the liberals who seek to destroy our standard of living. Mining leaves such a minimal impact on our environment, and the benefits derived from it are far plenty enough to fix any damages that are done, which brings me to another point, that current regulations require reclamation bonds before any work can begin, and once mining finishes, the mines are reclaimed, and you never even know anything was being done there.
Mining is the prosperity of every nation. Without it, no wealth is created. Cost of living skyrockets. Innovation is discouraged because existing metals become rare and expensive over time, meaning it is too costly to experiment and invent new technologies. Ultimately, it must be concluded that all modern technology owes it's existence to a healthy mining industry.
Yes, I have a goal, or an agenda here. It is simply that there is a war against mining going on. On any scale. Kalifornia banned gold dredging when that RINO Arnold Schwarzeneggar signed the ban into law... Oregon has since banned gold dredging. Other states may eventually follow. They have been trying to reform the 1872 mining laws for years, but by the grace of God it hasn't happened yet. Without mining, on even the smallest scale, we are in trouble. Believe it or not, a lot of people make their livings and put food on their table by running their small mining operations. I am guessing tens of thousands of small miners are starving because they can't suction dredge their claims in California. There is no clear census as to how many dredgers there are nor how many prospectors there are... But even with ten thousand prospectors not being able to dredge, the impact to the economy is perhaps billions of dollars lost... That in a state that is hurting worst for money. Doesn't that figure? And the fact of the matter is, suction dredging actually improves fish habitat, and it removes pollutants from the waterways. It does not cause any harm to the environment.
Actually, I think I will leave off here... My next post will be on gold dredging... It is an important issue that is under constant attack, that is often misguided, and by the majority of people it is misunderstood. I want to set the record straight, and we need all the supporters we can get to ensure the laws do not get any more crazy than they have been lately.
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