GOLD PANNING IN KAYUBOKO
I.
Background
On Inorganic Chemistry II lab, the
experiment was not carried out in the laboratory.
It is intended that the knowledge in terms of
how to obtain the metal "gold" is not limited to knowledge in the
laboratory.
The purpose of the present study took
place in the village kayuboko. Kayuboko is a village located in the district of
West Parigi Parigi District Moutong Central Sulawesi province. Distance to the center of the village Kayuboko
Parigi district administration about 10 KM West, a distance of about 5 KM
Capital District and the distance to the provincial capital of about 110 KM.
Kayuboko village has 3 (three) and the Hamlet
area of 12 square KM with boundaries - boundaries of the North: Village
Baliara, Masigi Village, and the Village Mertasari; East: Pombolowo village,
and the village of Olaya; South: Hot Springs Village; West: Lobu village
continued to mount; Altitude Land of the Sea: Approximately 125 M; Rice Field:
Approximately 142 Ha; Plantation: Approximately 1500 hectares; Yard:
Approximately 148 Ha.
The reasons for the selection of
villages kayuboko as the study site because it is pretty close and can be
reached only by 2 hours by road.
In the village kayuboko, process mining
is still largely traditional. One of them is by way of gain. In addition, those that are already using a machine
called the 'dompeng'. However, when
the weather was rather bad study causing flooding river water so that the
mining process can only be done by panning.
II.
Literatur Review
Humans
have known gold and treasured it since prehistoric times. Who discovered gold?
We do not know, it was discovered before there were written records. We know
there is a good chance the discoverer found it in a river bed. Currently we can
trace our use of gold back to at least 6200 years ago. A variety of objects
made of gold have been found in Bulgaria from 4500-4000 BC.
Gold
artifacts dated to 5000 years ago have been found in Egyptian tombs; gold was
already being beaten into sheets, foil and wire in Egypt at this time. The Egyptian word for gold was ‘nub’ and is
related to Nubia, the land south of Egypt where much of Egypt’s gold was
obtained.
Gold
in the native state (i.e. found naturally) is usually mixed with other metals,
such as silver. Its purity can be increased by depletion guilding or refining –
a significant step forward in technology.
Gold
of 98% purity has been found in Nahal Qunah in the ancient kingdom of Israel,
dating from about 6000 years ago. Analyses of gold from ancient Egypt indicates
refining began there about 2500 years ago.
The
legendary wealth of King Croesus of Lydia (now in modern Turkey) came from
refining gold found in several local rivers. Gold became the basis of money in
many ancient civilizations, and even today most countries maintain large
reserves of gold for financial credibility. Most modern currencies, however,
are not tied to gold as they were in the days of the Gold Standard, described
by economist John Maynard Keynes as “a barbarous relic.”
In
ancient times people viewed gold as the perfect substance. Alchemists began a
relentless but fruitless pursuit spanning many centuries, trying to discover
how to transform other metals into gold.
Although
alchemy failed in its goal, the experimental techniques alchemists developed
were important to the early chemists. Alchemists believed gold was made of a
mixture of perfectly purified mercury and sulfur, mixed in the perfect
proportions.
Constant
failure to produce gold simply meant substances were not yet pure enough, or
the perfect proportions had not yet been found. Alchemist’s concepts of mercury
and sulfur were different from ours; while they did include the substances we
call mercury and sulfur, they also encompassed other metals and substances.
The word ‘gold’
is an Anglo-Saxon word, similar to the Anglo-Saxon word for yellow, ‘geolo.’ It
is believed to have come from the Sanskrit ‘jval’ meaning ‘to shine.’ The
chemical symbol Au comes from ‘aurum’ the Latin word for gold. (Aurora was
goddess of dawn or the morning glow.)
Gold
is a metallic element
Elements
are the building blocks of our planet and gold is one of 94 naturally occurring
elements. It is a metallic material with a distinct yellow colour and metallic
lustre. Its Atomic Number is 79, its Atomic Mass is 196.967 and its symbol is
Au.
Gold is
not an abundant element. It is estimated gold atoms comprise only 0.3 parts per
billion [ppb] of the Earth’s crust. This translates to 3.1 ppb by weight due to
its density. However, sometimes geological processes concentrate gold into ore
deposits where it may be present in amounts above 5 parts per million [ppm] by
weight and sometimes as solid nuggets.
Properties
of gold
Gold is
highly valued for many reasons but its physical properties are essential to the
functioning of modern society. Gold is very soft [2.5 - 3.0 on the mohs
hardness scale] and is the most malleable and ductile of metals. This means it
can be beaten into very thin sheets and drawn out into very thin wires. Gold
does not readily form compounds and does not oxidise or tarnish. Only a mixture
of hydrochloric acid and nitric acid [called ‘aqua regia’], some cyanide
solutions and mercury will dissolve gold under surface temperatures and
pressures.
All
metals conduct heat and electricity; gold is no exception. In fact it is a
better conductor than most metals. Silver is a better electrical conductor but
gold is the metal of choice in mission-critical situations due to its ability
to also resist corrosion.
The
melting point of gold is 1064oC and it boils to a vapour at
2856oC. Gold is a very dense material.
It has a specific gravity or density of 19.3. This means 1cm3
weighs 19.3
grams while 1cm3 of water only weighs 1 gram.
Measuring
gold
Gold has
a long history of use in society so it is no surprise that measurements of gold
involve old and somewhat obscure units. Gold is always traded in Troy ounces.
Take note: a Troy ounce is not the same as other ounces.
1 Troy
Ounce = 31.1 grams
Because
gold is so soft it is often alloyed with other metals in order to improve its
durability. Commonly it is mixed with copper, platinum or nickel. Gold alloys
are rated using the 24 point carat system. 24 carat gold is pure (100%
Au w/w), 18-carat gold is 75% gold by weight and 12-carat gold is 50% gold by
weight. The carat system is also applied to Platinum.
Just be
careful though. This system refers to gold content by weight. Sometimes people
assume a given purity to mean the amount by volume. With gold being such a
dense material 50% gold by weight does not mean 50% gold by volume.
Bullion
dealers sometimes quote gold purity using ‘fineness’. 4 nines fineness or
9999 fineness is simply another way of saying 99.99% gold! 4 nines gold is
effectively 24 carat gold.
III.
Method
a.
Tools
As for the tools in the panning
is as follows:
·
Coconut
shell
·
Pan
·
Bucket
b.
Materials
The material used in the panning
process is sands from the
bottom of river.
c.
Working
Procedures
1) Prepare
equipment and materials to be used.
2) Find a
stretch of river that is at least 6 inches deep and where the water runs fast
enough.
3) Entering
into the pan as river gravel ¾ of volume and pan position remains in the water
pan.
4)
Issued pebbles large enough and the dirt from the pan.
5)
Having just left paisir-sand small size, then shaken
pan left and right.
6)
Sweep of the sand surface of the pan using the hand
shot up.
7)
Repeat steps 5 and 6 until the black sand looks.
8)
Having seen black sand, shaken pan with a circular
motion with the pan tilt on one side.
9)
Repeat steps 9 through visible gold.
10) Accommodate
gold obtained in the bucket provided.
IV.
Discussion
Gold
is an excellent conductor of heat and electricity. It is a soft, yellow, metal
with a beautiful lustrous sheen. It is the most malleable and ductile of all
the elements and a single gram can be beaten into a sheet one square meter
sheet of gold leaf.
Gold
is widely used in jewelry and coinage. It is also used in dental work as
crowns, as gold plating for decoration and as gold thread in embroidery work.
The gold content in alloys is usually measured in carats (k), with pure gold
defined as 24k.
Panning
for gold is a simple process, but one that takes a little practice to master.
It relies on the principle of specific gravity – the density of a substance
relative to the density of water. The higher the specific gravity of a
substance, the greater its propensity to sink to the bottom of a container of
water. As gold has a very high specific gravity, this principle can be used to
separate it from the material within which it is found.
The purpose of this experiment is to
determine how the process of gold mining in the village kayuboko. Gold mining
process is still traditional village that is the way panning.
The first step that needs to be done is to
prepare a tool that will be used. The tools used in the form of coconut shell
that serves to take sand from the river, which serves as a panning tray and
scoop that serves to menapung gold have been obtained.
The
second, choose a spot to do your panning. It is best to pick a location where
the water is at least six inches deep and preferably flowing just enough to
sweep away any silty water that may be washed from your pan. This way, you can
see what you are doing better. You do not want the water moving so swiftly that
it will upset your panning actions. A mild current will do, if available. It is
always best to find a spot where there’s a rock or log or stream-bank or something
that you can sit down upon while panning. You can pan effectively while
squatting, kneeling or bending over, but it does get tiresome. If planning to
process more than just one or two pans, sitting down will make the activity
much more pleasant.
The
third pan to enter river pebbles into the pan as much as ¾ of volume and pan
position remains in the water. It aims to to wash away the mud, clay, gravel,
sand etc. but retain whatever gold is mixed with this material. The pan should
be underwater while doing this. Mud and silt will float up and out. Do not
concern yourself about losing any gold when this happens. Remember: gold is
heavy and will sink deeper in your pan while these lighter materials are
floating out and away.
The
fourth, is issued pebbles large enough to facilitate the process of panning.
The fifth, after the only remaining sand
paisir-small size, then shaken pan left and right to pan position remains under
the surface of the water. It is intended that the material has a density of
large (gold) will be getting down and remain behind in the pan while having a
small density will be lifted to the surface. Then sweep sand the surface with a
hand raised slowly so gold is not carried.
Then repeat the steps above until a few
times until the only remaining black sand.
Sixth, after the black sand looks, shaken
pan with a circular motion with the pan tilt on one side slowly. It is intended
that water will sweep the black sand bit by bit. This step is repeated multiple
times and must be done very carefully so as not participate swept gold.
Finally, after the gold has been clean of
impurities from then collected in buckets.
Based on interviews with the miners in the
village mrs. Gamar (58 years old) and mrs. Nurmin (40 years) said that the gold
they earn will be collected up to 2 weeks and then sold to collectors. In
addition, the miners say that they do not use chemicals in the treatment
process because the results obtained only gold collected and then sold.
