Knowledge

Quartz reef mining

Source 📝

122: 25: 168: 147:. Quartz is one of the most common minerals in the Earth's crust, and most quartz veins do not carry gold, but those that have gold are avidly hunted by prospectors. In the shallow, oxidized zones of quartz reef deposits, the gold occurs in its metallic state, and is easily recovered with simple equipment. Quartz reef mining played an important role in 19th century gold-mining districts such as 208:
which lifted buckets of rock up to a raised platform called a brace. Wheeled buckets then carried the rock along elevated tracks to waste dumps or processing works. The steel cable that hoisted the bucket passed over the gin wheel.
229:. The steel shoes went up and down between wooden guides and pounded the quartz which had been fed into steel boxes underneath the stampers. Ideally the stamping batteries would work 24 hours a day. 278:, Bendigo (The mine still stands today. Mining began in 1938, and was continuous for 16 years. It was a deep reef quartz goldmine. During the working life of the mine, 60,000 425: 248:, which amalgamates with gold. The gold particles stuck to the mercury, and could be collected from there. In more recent times, gold has been recovered by the 261: 237: 217:
The gold was brought to the surface as small particles embedded in lumps of quartz. The quartz was then crushed into a fine dust by stamping batteries in a
221:. A stamp battery contained a row of stamps. On the bottom of each stamp was a heavy piece of iron or steel. Each battery was driven by a 205: 89: 61: 292:
No. 297: "...this discovery created the great excitement that started the development of quartz mining into a great industry."
285: 68: 42: 321: 108: 75: 375: 289: 126: 57: 46: 347: 455: 445: 367: 35: 82: 193:
All the ore was hoisted to the surface for processing. Water had to be removed by pumping. Big
450: 311: 440: 275: 182:
sunk to mine quartz from the reefs, sometimes deep underground. Horizontal tunnels called
8: 269: 361: 288:, USA (This site of one of the first discoveries of quartz gold in California, and now 272:(Its deepest shaft used to mine a quartz reef was almost a kilometre and a half deep.) 371: 317: 245: 148: 391: 121: 249: 171:
Headframe with gin wheel. Abandoned Kilimafeza gold mine, Serengeti NP, Tanzania
194: 187: 140: 434: 420: 415: 336: 152: 392:"NO. 297 SITE OF ONE OF THE FIRST DISCOVERIES OF QUARTZ GOLD IN CALIFORNIA" 183: 179: 226: 186:
were dug out from the shaft at different levels to find the gold-bearing
156: 136: 218: 222: 201: 24: 265: 167: 282:
of quartz was brought to the surface, yielding 1 tonne of gold.
241: 175: 144: 200:
On the surface above the shaft stands a building known as the
279: 233: 197:
were installed to hoist lifts and buckets up the shafts.
232:
After crushing, the quartz was mixed with water to make
49:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. 432: 309: 426:www.central-deborah.com/education/Project doc 363:Mining in the Pacific States of North America 313:Labor in South African Gold Mines 1911-1969 236:which then ran down sloping tables, called 421:http://www.egold.net.au/biogs/EG00024b.htm 416:http://www.egold.net.au/biogs/EG00055b.htm 316:. Cambridge University Press. p. 16. 252:, instead of using mercury-coated plates. 109:Learn how and when to remove this message 166: 120: 359: 433: 16:Type of gold mining in veins of quartz 286:Gold Hill (Nevada County, California) 366:. San Francisco: J. Wiley. pp.  125:Quartz reef breaking the surface at 47:adding citations to reliable sources 18: 155:in New Zealand, and the California 13: 204:. This contained a wheel called a 14: 467: 409: 23: 360:Hittell, John Shertzer (1861). 255: 34:needs additional citations for 384: 353: 341: 330: 303: 290:California Historical Landmark 240:. On top of these tables were 127:Paynes Find, Western Australia 1: 296: 212: 7: 337:Mining Technology: Overview 10: 472: 348:Central Deborah’s History 276:Central Deborah Gold Mine 178:the ore usually required 162: 310:Francis Willis (1972). 225:which was turned by a 172: 129: 170: 124: 262:Victoria Quartz mine 238:concentrating tables 58:"Quartz reef mining" 43:improve this article 270:Victoria, Australia 244:sheets coated with 456:Underground mining 394:. ohp.parks.ca.gov 173: 133:Quartz reef mining 130: 446:History of mining 149:Bendigo, Victoria 119: 118: 111: 93: 463: 403: 402: 400: 399: 388: 382: 381: 357: 351: 345: 339: 334: 328: 327: 307: 195:hoisting engines 114: 107: 103: 100: 94: 92: 51: 27: 19: 471: 470: 466: 465: 464: 462: 461: 460: 431: 430: 412: 407: 406: 397: 395: 390: 389: 385: 378: 358: 354: 346: 342: 335: 331: 324: 308: 304: 299: 258: 250:cyanide process 215: 165: 115: 104: 98: 95: 52: 50: 40: 28: 17: 12: 11: 5: 469: 459: 458: 453: 448: 443: 429: 428: 423: 418: 411: 410:External links 408: 405: 404: 383: 376: 352: 340: 329: 322: 301: 300: 298: 295: 294: 293: 283: 273: 257: 254: 214: 211: 164: 161: 151:in Australia, 117: 116: 99:September 2007 31: 29: 22: 15: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 468: 457: 454: 452: 449: 447: 444: 442: 439: 438: 436: 427: 424: 422: 419: 417: 414: 413: 393: 387: 379: 373: 369: 365: 364: 356: 349: 344: 338: 333: 325: 323:9780521083034 319: 315: 314: 306: 302: 291: 287: 284: 281: 277: 274: 271: 267: 263: 260: 259: 253: 251: 247: 243: 239: 235: 230: 228: 224: 220: 210: 207: 203: 198: 196: 191: 189: 185: 181: 177: 169: 160: 158: 154: 153:Central Otago 150: 146: 142: 138: 135:is a type of 134: 128: 123: 113: 110: 102: 91: 88: 84: 81: 77: 74: 70: 67: 63: 60: –  59: 55: 54:Find sources: 48: 44: 38: 37: 32:This article 30: 26: 21: 20: 451:Quartz mines 396:. Retrieved 386: 362: 355: 343: 332: 312: 305: 256:Quartz mines 231: 216: 199: 192: 174: 139:in "reefs" ( 132: 131: 105: 96: 86: 79: 72: 65: 53: 41:Please help 36:verification 33: 441:Gold mining 227:water wheel 180:mine shafts 157:mother lode 137:gold mining 435:Categories 398:2008-08-20 377:0665167377 297:References 219:stamp mill 213:Processing 69:newspapers 223:cam shaft 206:gin wheel 202:headframe 266:Bendigo 246:mercury 83:scholar 374:  320:  280:tonnes 242:copper 184:drifts 176:Mining 163:Mining 145:quartz 85:  78:  71:  64:  56:  143:) of 141:veins 90:JSTOR 76:books 372:ISBN 318:ISBN 188:rock 62:news 368:124 234:mud 45:by 437:: 370:. 268:, 264:, 190:. 159:. 401:. 380:. 350:) 326:. 112:) 106:( 101:) 97:( 87:· 80:· 73:· 66:· 39:.

Index


verification
improve this article
adding citations to reliable sources
"Quartz reef mining"
news
newspapers
books
scholar
JSTOR
Learn how and when to remove this message

Paynes Find, Western Australia
gold mining
veins
quartz
Bendigo, Victoria
Central Otago
mother lode

Mining
mine shafts
drifts
rock
hoisting engines
headframe
gin wheel
stamp mill
cam shaft
water wheel

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.