"""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."""
True, though understanding the mechanisms of ore formation is a substantial advance.
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.
We went all the way to magnitude –2,” Weatherley says — an earthquake so small, he adds, that it involves a slip of only about 130 micrometres along a mere 90 centimetres of the fault zone. “You still get a pressure drop of 50%,” he notes.
Interesting. Is there a rough rule of thumb that translates magnitude into slip size and length?
I upvoted you because you are halfright. Japan always had the potential to be a gold exporter, but it seems the people and government (SPQJ?) have not been too much into it.
Lots of reasons to not be a producer of metals. If you find any material in California good luck - its more than a 25 year process to open a new mine, including payoffs to various politicians and an endless environmental review process.
"its more than a 25 year process to open a new mine"
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.
It isn't hard. Find a spot on BLM lands that has agates and isn't inside a non-allowed territory (National Monuments, Wilderness Preserves, someone else's claim area, etc.) Get your claim marker boundaries established, file a claim notice with the BLM (make sure to acquire township/range/section/subsection for the area you're trying to make a claim in otherwise you're going to have a hard time) pay your fees and wait for approval. I'd suggest filing a placer claim (surface finds no deeper than 18" below ground) as lode claims tend to need more remediation plans and obviously lots and lots of digging/hard rock mining (I have one lode claim and I'm going to let it expire, too much work.)
It's a lot of hard work and a lot of adventuring. Most of my time is spent just researching and using a ton of GIS data to figure out where I wish to go, and adventuring around the area and looking for stuff to acquire. Very little actual time is spent digging, and what digging I do is almost entirely bare-handed or with small hand tools (not even a full-length shovel is in my loadout, my largest tool is a wrecking bar.)
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.
Oh wow, that's much more manual than I expected! Researching GIS data I expected but what you do after that is totally different from what I had in my head. I was thinking it was more like the experience of owning a single rental property; once you get past any unique "mining" paperwork that it would be an income stream that is largely passive.
It is anything but passive income! Extracting a resource can be simple or it can be complicated. You've gotta deal with all kinds of expenses, tooling, travel, maybe greasing a few palms for choice tidbits of information (usually a nice rock or a split of the found haul works as payment amongst us small miners) maintenance and paperwork.
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.
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.
Mining is actually one of the most privilleged land usages. The Mining Law of 1872 still governs and positions mining as the "highest" possible use of a land. This actually makes fighting the opening of a new mine one of the most challenging fights activists and indigenous people often undertake
I confess I laughed at this (you're good at the sarcastic takedown), but it's a bit mean-spirited and not really in keeping with the discussion guidelines. Belittling someone like this discourages dialogue and learning.
