How Do You Mine for Gold or Copper? Where is Gold or Copper Found?

Technology has progressed at an astonishing rate.  The ability to make a profit out of copper, silver and gold chemical extraction from rock is now feasible and very lucrative.  We are at the site of one of only two man-made creations that is seen from space - the open-mine pit of Bingham Canyon, Utah.  A quarter of the total copper demand in the United States is quenched by production of Bingham Canyon.  Prospecting with a pan as in days of old is out and mass production of essential minerals with the use of high dollar and high tech machinery is in.

What was once a mountain is now a massive crater.  Intricately and carefully carved over the past century are all the tunnels and roads that lead to the bottom of this open pit.  What would the Bingham family, Mormon pioneers of 1847, think of the fruited seed they planted so long ago?  At first, the precious ore was in such minute concentration in the rock that it was unfeasible to make a large scale profit from the excavation and extraction.  However, new technology and knowledge of chemistry opened the door to mass production and paved the way for modern industries of computers, aviation, military, construction, plumbing, refrigeration and a host of others.

Through 55-foot test drilling, sonar, and other methods, extraction sites of best concentrations of copper are determined.  These are plotted in chronological order and synced on the production schedule.  1,000 pounds of special explosives are often used to open up the production area.  The rock is loaded onto 2-story earth movers that are able to haul 255 - 360 tons and delivered to the In-Pit Crusher which reduces the ore to the size of soccer balls.  It is then delivered via a 3-mile conveyor system to the Copperton Concentrator where the chemical process of copper extraction raises the copper concentration from 1% in the ore to 28%. 

Here at the Copperton Concentrator the ore is crushed to face powder consistency.  Through a process called flotation this powder is mixed with water.  The result is the precious minerals are brought to the open pool surface via separation.  Yet, copper is not the only product reaped from this process.  Molybdenum is a by-product hardening agent that is sold to steel manufacturers.

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The precious ore and water is pumped seventeen miles to a facility near the Great Salt Lake.  The Smelter super heats this ore in a purification process.  Through flash smelting the copper becomes 99.5% pure.  A by-product of this process, sulfur, is collected and sold to the agriculture and livestock industries for their valuable use.  The copper is molded into anodes and shipped to the Electrolytic Refinery.  

At the Electrolytic Refinery the anodes of copper are further purified to 99.9% through an electrolytic process.  It is in this stage of the entire process that gold and silver is harvested.  The finished product of copper are called cathodes which are then shipped to companies in the industries that each and every one of us use every day.  

All this from the rock of the earth...

I marvel at the immense resources given us to use for our use in our allocated time.  Mining is no longer a massive drain on natural resources.  It's a growing production practice to utilize all or most of the by-products and waste created in the streamline process.  Becoming modern and consumers is not a bad thing.  With any increased population it is also an inevitability that more resources are needed to sustain them.  Responsibility is proven to be achieved in the harvesting process of precious minerals and ores of any terrain.

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Let us support these efforts that we may progress as a people into a bright future.  We can equally support conservation efforts and herald mining companies that already do.