Gold not just sunlight and water

How to Take Out Gold from Its Host
 By: Ed Brown
In the past gold was believed to be a combination of sunlight and water as it shone brilliantly and was commonly found near water. From the ancient civilizations like Egypt and the cities of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa, gold has been used as a symbol for prosperity. Gold mining is the process of extracting gold from the ground. There are many different techniques and methods for mining gold.
Some of the techniques are gold panning, dredging, sluicing etc. One method that was used in the past was the cradle method developed by Isaac Humphrey. In this method a wooden box with a handle on the side and a ridged bottom is used. The bottom is lined with Hessian cloth. The deposit is put inside the cradle where it is rocked violently with water from a creek. The finer particles go through the screen and any useless residue was discarded. This method allowed a lot of gravel to be examined and so was considered to be a better method than the gold panning method. These methods were however not suitable for commercial purposes.
Open cut gold mining and underground gold mining are used to extract gold for commercial purposes. In open cut mining, the mine will be excavated as a series of layers. These layers are called benches. This way trucks and other vehicles can enter the benches and provide assistance for mining like drilling and ore sampling. The machines are used to remove the rocks after which comes the sifting process. This method utilizes explosives like ammonium nitrate to break the rock. Doing so gets the job done with very less damage to nearby areas. In underground mining everything is done under the ground. A shaft is sunk about 1000 meters deep into the ground after which horizontal tunnels are dug. These tunnels allow the miners to access the gold deposits. The danger of the mine collapsing increases as the mines go deeper and deeper. Even though strict safety guidelines are adhered to by underground mining corporations by providing sufficient support for the walls and ceiling and supplying ample ventilation and lighting, there will always be the imminent risk of complete collapse. The underground mining method may produce results but it is expensive and highly dangerous. Today a wide variety of high tech machinery and techniques are used to successfully extract gold which is then used in its various forms.