Methods Of Extracting Gold In Ballarat Region: Past And Present

Hazards and risks involved in the mining industry

Discuss about the Bull Market Rise and Eclipse Stock.

It was raining heavily the day the students decided to visit one of the mining site. Since I was absent, a friend of mine decided to narrate to me about their visit to the mining site. They realized that the workers in the mining site were cooperative and they fully acquired the answers they needed concerning the mining. In the process of touring and gathering the information they needed, they came to realize that there were several hazards hindering the workers in the mining site from performing their assignments allocated to them by the heads of mining. The hazards were causing injuries and health problems to the workers in the mining site.

1. Inhalation of dust - So many specks of dust are released during mining process causing black lung which is realized when one is suffering from shortness of breath, scarring of lung tissues which results to ongoing respiratory issues(kelvin, 2008, p. 123).
2. Slip and trips- In the mine site most workers were sliding and falling more so during raining season thus injuring themselves since the walking paths were very wet.
3. Noise- The drilling and heavy machines available in the mining site were very noisy. The noise from the site causes damage to the hearing organ but they are not realized by the workers since the damage take place very slowly. Over-exposure to excessive noise result in concentration problems, tinnitus and also permanent hearing loss.
4. UV Exposure- Exposing of workers to ultraviolet ray put them at a risk of acquiring skin cancer. The UV rays also cause serious damage to the eye if the miners fail to put on protective eyewear(Carey, 2016, p. 12)

The risk assessment technique will allow quick view of the probable risk evaluated in terms of likelihood            

The aforementioned hazards can be mitigated so as to curtail the risk linked to them. Hierarchy of Controls                     

They can be controlled by;

1. Following Hierarchy of controls, the elimination of hazards can be achieved by removing them physically to avoid injuries associated with them.
2. The hazards can be substituted such that hazards such as pouring waste materials into the lake can be substituted by constructing waste pit where all the waste materials can be stored and then recycled.
3. People should be isolated from the hazards by putting strict measures so that to minimize injuries associated with these hazards. (George, 2010, p. 453).
4. The hazards can also be controlled by changing how people work on the mining site, for example, giving out protective measures to the workers and visitors.
5. Avoidance of hazards can be done by coming up with a dust control plan. Installation of dust control protection, medical screening and surveillance will assist in solving respiratory problems

The setting of Ballarat Goldfields is at Yarrowee River in the Central Highlands and its exploration started in1985. Geographically, alluvial sediments and volcanic flows originates from extinct volcanoes are found in Ballarat goldfield. (Clark, 2006, p. 235).

Alluvial deposits are constituents dropped by rivers and they comprise silt, gravel, sand and clay and also organic matter. They are constantly most widespread in the bottom part of rivers course leading to the deltas and floodplains formation but they may form at any point where the bank of the rivers are overflowing. (Billy, 2010, p. 175).

The above mentioned turbidities are deposits which are carried and dropped by the density flow. The rock particles are carried away by water traveling at a certain velocity in order to suspend the particles in water and push it along. Turbidities in deposits takes place in carbonate as well as siliciclastic sequences and their huge buildups may upshot in the creation of submarine fans (kelvin, 2008, p. 123)

Describe three different mining systems that were used to mine gold in the Ballarat region.

There were dissimilar methods that were used in the mining of gold in the past but presently, a good number have been substituted by recent approaches. The ancient methods used in Ballarat region include;

The method mentioned above was the most broadly practiced technique of extraction and it is still working in some places up to date. This method is the chief origin of gold in most goldfields. The dipping of reef is abruptly done in the mining sections leaving the huge slots where the reef had been. The reef was initially open-cut or quarried to gain the advantage of the rich surface exposures then sinking the shafts or the tunnels to assist in tracing the gold concealed at greater depth. After extraction, the crushing of quartz is carried out into the fine sand to remove the gold (Coulson, 2012, p. 123).

Hierarchy of Controls to mitigate the risk

The technique mentioned above was majorly used small-scale miners whereby gold extraction from placer deposits using sluice box which is made using box having riffles intended to produce dead zones in the current to permit dropping of gold from the suspension. The box placement is done at the stream so that to channel the flow of water while the material bearing the gold is placed at the top of the box. The current is used in carrying the material through the volt where various dense materials together with the gold settles out behind the riffles while materials which are little heavy runs out of the box as tailing (Gudde, 2009, p. 54)s.

This particular method has mostly been replaced by most modern method but it mostly applied miners doing mining activity in small scale by using suction dredges, a slight machine capable of floating on liquid during the operation. The suction dredges entail a sluice box supported by pontoons which are controlled by miner operation underground the water. In the extraction of smaller golds then small suction dredges are preferred to old bucket line (Tilston, 2016).

The operation of greater scale dredging takes place on bare river gravel bars at the cyclic water and the excavator is used in feeding a gravel screening plant and sluice box floating in a provisional pond. The excavation of pond is done from gravel bar, filled with the natural water table and then it is processed through a floating plant. This particular method involves low cost since the movement of rock just takes place one (Lynch, 2004, p. 289).

This was a manual technique extensively used in sorting out the other materials from gold. In this process, the gravel and sand were filled using a shallow pan which may have gold. The pan was dipped into the water and shaken so that gold can be separated from gravel and other materials. The gold will simply settle at the bottom of the pan quickly since it is denser compared to the rock. The removal of panning materials was normally carried out on the stream beds or bedrocks.  (Tyler, 2010, p. 432).

This method of extracting gold is the cheapest and easiest method but it cannot be used in the extraction of golds in large deposits this making to be unsuitable commercially (Kenny, 2009, p. 98).

How were the alluvial deposits mined in the early good rush days of Victoria?

Geological characteristics of Ballarat goldfield

This method was mainly used in areas where the deposits of alluvial were buried beneath the primordial lava flows or younger sediments and it was less spread. The process of deep lead mining involves a sinking of the main shaft in a solid ground and extending tunnels from this underneath the old, buried riverbeds. At the intervals to the lead, a vertical connection was made and then excavation of earliest gold-bearing gravels from the sides of the major tunnel linking the tunnel over the lead. There were threats associated with applying this method for example flooding problems were incurred more so during rainy seasons (Gilbert, 2014, p. 412).

The pudding process involves the removal and processing of all dust's found beneath the bedrocks and several turns can be treated especially when using puddling machines powered by the horses.  The mechanism is made of a wooden trough circular in shape and placed on the central mound straight pole made of wooden and was attached to the post using a pin made of iron. The iron rakes were hanging from the pole which was being dragged nearby the trench to assist in breaking the clay and free the gold (Carey, 2016, p. 278).

Today involves either underground or surface methods and some involve hybrid manner whereby it combines all the methods. The methods currently employed in Ballarat goldfield include;

This method of mining involves extraction of minerals by the involvement in a chemical reaction. The chemicals assist in the absorption of certain minerals then they are re-separated after their division from other earth materials. This method is preferred economic wise by most mining industries since it is a better alternative to conventional processing for example agitation and flotation.

This method of mining gold is similarly termed as open-pit or open-cut mining. It is a shallow mining technique which involves extracting minerals from the earth by removing them from a borrow or open pit. The method mentioned is applicable when the mineral is found within the surface thus does not require a long wall mining such as underground mining which is only relevant when the mineral is deep inside the surface (Patterson, 2004, p. 321).

The enlargement of open pit mines is done until the exhaustion of mineral resource or an increasing ratio of overburden to ore. The water is also controlled during the mining process so as to protect the mining area from becoming a lake.

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