Earthquakes make gold veins in an instant (2013)
nature.com
nature.com
"""In 1980, he transmuted several thousand atoms of bismuth-209 into gold (197 Au) at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory. His experimental technique, using the lab's Bevalac particle accelerator, was able to remove protons and neutrons from the bismuth atoms by bombarding it with carbon and neon nuclei traveling near the speed of light.[47] Seaborg's technique would have been far too expensive to enable routine manufacturing of gold, but his work was close to the mythical Philosopher's Stone.[48][49] As gold has four fewer protons and (taking the only naturally occurring bulk isotopes of either) eight fewer neutrons than bismuth, a total of twelve nucleons have to be removed from the bismuth nucleus to produce gold using Seaborg's method."""
the building where plutonium was first synthesized still exists ont he berkeley campus although IIRC they had to clean it up: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilman_Hall#Room_307
There's a critical distinction between the abundance of chemical elements within Earth's crust and how, where, and when they are concentrated. I'm not generally familiar with the topic, but of a few instances:
- Most iron ore is of biological origin, with so-called "banded iron formations" (BIFs) being largely formed in two episodes, ~3 billion and 1 billion years ago, largely by early bacteria.
- "Rare earths" aren't so much rare as unconcentrated. By overall abundance, these are fairly common, but because they do not form ores, they're found at low concentrations, and are often recovered as by-products of other mining activities.
Keep in mind that the issue of ore formation and its reliance on processes specific to Earth's geological evolution, including plate tectonics and biological activity, mean that prospects for mining on other worlds (the Moon, Mars, asteroids) are likely to face radically different circumstances. Then again, mining in such areas would also likely be focused strongly on substances considered generally abundant on Earth, such as oxygen and water.
Interesting. Is there a rough rule of thumb that translates magnitude into slip size and length?
that ground needs to be near the surface
and geological surveys are unreliable
good luck prospectors! I either just saved you 5 minutes of your time or 5 decades of your life.
https://www.gov-online.go.jp/eng/publicity/book/hlj/html/202....
For massive lode and pit operations for major corporations, sure. I own four agate mines and one manganese minein the Mojave. It costs not much at all if you're a small miner.
I know the Mojave and know I love agates so I'm going out on a limb and saying I'm the man for the job.
It is not uncommon to see me walking out with some 150+ pounds of rock in my hands and on my back, though, as once I get an area picked, it is usually highly-productive and I'm going for my body weight in material every single change I can get.
When you want to sell some of this stuff, in my typical case as lapidary stone, you spend a good bit of time taking GOOD pictures, as at that specific market, you aren't selling the stone, you're selling the picture of the stone in order to make that stone move. Crappy pictures = no sales. Make it look as best as you can without any sort of doctoring, that's the trick.
If you're ever in SoCal, I'll show you the full experience. It is a hell of a busy hobby, one that takes up most of my free time outside of my normal job. It's addictive. I have a 400 square mile playground that I constantly explore.
https://i.imgur.com/CxEnUF5.mp4 https://imgur.com/sKyVuyX https://imgur.com/EA2QXMe
It's an adventure!
When I was at 29 Palms I had a friend who was a geology major and he built a contraption that fit in the back of his pickup to enable him to rapidly pan for gold in the streams of Joshua Tree. When we first arrived in Okinawa we were brainstorming how to leach platinum out of catalytic converters using chemical baths, but the automotive centers on base wouldn't sell us cats so that idea died. I think he went back to get a Masters in Petroleum Engineering and then wanted to move into undersea robotic mining.
I can see how it can become an addictive yet rewarding hobby.
Considering what mining tends to do to the surrounding environment, I say good for California.