Gold has always been one of the most highly valued metals in the world. It is used in the manufacture of everything, from jewelry to electronics, and has been established as the basis for monetary systems worldwide. Various factors contribute to making gold so valuable, such as its malleability, or its ability to be hammered flat; and its ductility, or its ability to be drawn into metal wire. Due to its chemical stability, gold is useful in biomedical and research applications, as its lack of reactivity to air and other elements prevents corrosion and tarnish. Gold is also a good conductor of both electricity and heat, seeing use in computers and aerospace.
The ancient Egyptians were among the first to use gold, over 5000 years ago. By the Old Kingdom, banded gold lined the sarcophagi of pharoahs and temple priests, and the Egyptians covered the tops of their pyramids and obelisks with a naturally-occurring gold-and-silver alloy called electrum. Unfortunately, the prized qualities of gold have also proved burdensome, with thieves breaking into tombs to steal treasure as early as the construction of the pyramid of Djoser in 2670 B.C. Tomb raiding became such a huge problem that curses were placed on facades of burial chambers to ward off intruders. Gold has continued to attract unwanted visitors throughout history -- it is one of the primary reasons the conquistadors discovered the New World and subsequently sacked the Aztec and Incan capitals.
Gold is one of the rarest elements to occur in Earth's crust at only 0.004 parts-per-million -- that is over 500 times more rare than uranium at 2.7 ppm, and still over twenty times more rare than the liquid silvery metal mercury at 0.085 ppm. The most precious qualities of gold may be its beautiful luster, or its shine; and its high density, which increases its value simply because gold atoms require less space. Gold's high density allows it to be found in creeks and riverbeds with a technique called placer mining, since lighter sediments are washed away downriver. Gold can also be found in white quartz veins via lode mining, i.e. digging underground and breaking up rock with pickaxes and explosives. The broken ore is then carted away in wheelbarrows or minecarts, or pulled up mineshafts in kibbles.
Although gold can be found in many different areas, the most valuable deposits are large veins of gold ore running through mountains. When a large deposit is found, mining the deposit greatly boosts the economy in settlements and cities near the mine. A historical example of this phenomenon are the many towns that grew and prospered over a relatively short time during the California gold rush in the late 1840's and 1850's. Discovery of gold can form entire townships, such as the boomtowns that sprang up in southern Australia around the same time, or deep within the outback of western Australia in the 1890's. Other gold rushes occurred in New Zealand in the 1860's, South Africa in the 1880's, the Klondike region of Yukon and Alaska in the 1890's, and at the Reed mine in North Carolina in the early 1800's -- the first gold rush in North America.
Conrad Reed first discovered gold when he spotted a large, shiny rock in Little Meadow creek in 1799 at the age of 12 while we has bow fishing. His father, John Reed, and the rest of the Reed family, not knowing that is was gold, used it as a door stop for three years. John finally took it to be appraised, when he sold it for $3.50 -- a week's worth of wages at the time, but far below the actual worth of the 17-pound gold nugget. The Reeds, eventually realizing their mistake, started mining operations in 1802.
Panning is this Saturday, September 17th 2022.
Address: 9621 Reed Mine Rd, Midland, NC 28107
Email: griffindrice@gmail.com