Gold is one of the rich mineral and one of the expensive minerals. Gold is a
dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. It has a bright yellow colour and luster
traditionally considered attractive. It is commonly been a usage for traditional coins,
bullion and jewelry. In eastern culture people eat gold leaf, gold flakes and gold dust for
health benefits and as a show of health. Gold is also used for modern medicine in its salt
or radioisotope forms. The gold isotope, gold-198, is also, used for the treatment of
cancer. Gold can be used for dental work, including fillings and crowns, is predominantly
white gold or gold alloys. When white gold is used, the purity of the gold is usually 15
carat or higher.
Gold could be found in sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic rocks but is
usually found in metamorphic rocks. This is because gold is an elemental mineral and not
considered a rock. Also, because it has characteristics of mineral like it is organic, it
occur naturally, it is a solid crystallized form and it has consistent chemical composition.
There are many different types of gold deposits, some of them include epithermal
vein deposits, intrusion-related breccia pipes, mesothermal turbidite, and greenstone-
hosted deposits, contact deposits(skarns), replacement deposits, disseminated ores,
placers, and Archean banded-iron formation deposits and also banded-iron formation
deposits which is near the Pine Ridge reservation. The easiest gold to access, and which
is most commonly mined, it gold formed by placer deposit. Placer deposits are the result
of weathering or erosion of lode deposits.
Placer mining is used to retrieve gold. It has its sub categories including Panning,