Mineral Exploration

• Top soil replacement using uncontaminated soil
• Mineral Exploration follows a well-defined stages: Project Design, Field Exploration, Regional Reconnaissance, Detailed Exploration, Prospect Evaluation, and Pre-Production Feasibility Study.
• Project Design, the initial stage in formulating a project, involves review of available data, government requirements in acquiring the project, review of social, environmental, political and economic acceptability of project and budget and organization proposal.
• Field Exploration, the stage involving physical activities in the selected project area, can be subdivided into the phases: Regional Reconnaissance and Detailed Exploration.
• Regional Reconnaissance, the main objective of which is to identify targets or interesting mineralized zones covering a relatively large area, involves regional surface investigation and interpretation.
• Detailed Exploration, which involves more detailed surface and subsurface activities with the objective of finding and delineating targets or mineralized zones, is a part of Field Exploration.
• Prospect Evaluation, the main objective of which is to assess market profitability by extensive resource, geotechnical and engineering drilling, metallurgical testing and environmental and societal cost assessment, is a part of Field Exploration.
• Heavy media separation involves crushing and screening the rocks, submerging them in liquid, and separating the heavier/denser minerals from the lighter minerals.
• The solution is processed further to extract the gold.
• Underground mining is a method used to extract ore minerals that is deep under the Earth's surface.
• Magnetic separation is a process in which magnetically susceptible material is extracted from a mixture using a magnetic force.
• Strip mining is a method by which ore is removed or extracted in strips, involving removing the top layer of soil instead of digging deep holes.
• The milling process involves the materials extracted or mined, which are composed of both ore and waste material, undergoing processes of mineral separation and recovery through processes usually done in a mill.
• Environmental impacts of irresponsible mining can include flooding, erosion, subsidence, water and air pollution, damage to wildlife and habitat.
• As the leach solution percolates down through the rocks, the gold is dissolved into the solution.
• The initial stage in mining involves crushing and screening for controlled size reduction followed by grinding where the rocks are pulverized.
• Placer mining uses water to excavate, transport, concentrate, and recover heavy minerals from alluvial sediments or placer deposits.
• Flotation involves placing the powdered ore into an agitated and frothy slurry, where some minerals and metals based on physical and chemical properties may either sink to the bottom or may sink to the bubbles and rise to the top, thus separating the minerals and metals from the waste.
• Cyanide heap leaching is a method used for low grade gold ore where the crushed rock is placed on a leach pile where cyanide is sprayed or dripped on top of the pile.
• Pre-Production Feasibility Study determines and validates the accuracy of all data and information collected from the different stages.
• Surface Mining is used to extract ore minerals that are close to Earth’s surface.
• Open Pit Mining creates a big hole in the ground from which the ore is mined.
• Quarry is associated with mining of non-metallic resources such as limestone and sand and gravel.