science

Quartz reef mining

Quartz reef mining is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Quartz reef mining rather than just read about it. In short: Quartz reef mining is a type of gold mining in "reefs" (veins) of quartz. Quartz is one of the most common minerals in the Earth's crust, and most quartz veins do not carry gold, but those that have gold are avidly hunted by prospectors.

Key takeaways

Quartz reef mining belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Quartz reef mining to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Quartz reef mining from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Quartz reef mining is a type of gold mining in "reefs" (veins) of quartz. Quartz is one of the most common minerals in the Earth's crust, and most quartz veins do not carry gold, but those that have gold are avidly hunted by prospectors. In the shallow, oxidized zones of quartz reef deposits, the gold occurs in its metallic state, and is easily recovered with simple equipment. Quartz reef mining played an important role in 19th century gold-mining districts such as Bendigo, Victoria in Australia, Central Otago in New Zealand, and the California mother lode.

Mining

Mining the ore usually required mine shafts sunk to mine quartz from the reefs, sometimes deep underground. Horizontal tunnels called drifts were dug out from the shaft at different levels to find the gold-bearing rock. All the ore was hoisted to the surface for processing. Water had to be removed by pumping. Big hoisting engines were installed to hoist lifts and buckets up the shafts. On the surface above the shaft stands a building known as the headframe. This contained a wheel called a gin wheel which lifted buckets of rock up to a raised platform called a brace. Wheeled buckets then carried the rock along elevated tracks to waste dumps or processing works. The steel cable that hoisted the bucket passed over the gin wheel.

Processing The gold was brought to the surface as small particles embedded in lumps of quartz. The quartz was then crushed into a fine dust by stamping batteries in a stamp mill. A stamp battery contained a row of stamps. On the bottom of each stamp was a heavy piece of iron or steel. Each battery was driven by a cam shaft which was turned by a water wheel. The steel shoes went up and down between wooden guides and pounded the quartz which had been fed into steel boxes underneath the stampers. Ideally the stamping batteries would work 24 hours a day. After crushing, the quartz was mixed with water to make mud which then ran down sloping tables, called concentrating tables. On top of these tables were copper sheets coated with mercury, which amalgamates with gold. The gold particles stuck to the mercury, and could be collected from there. In more recent times, gold has been recovered by the cyanide process, instead of using mercury-coated plates.

Quartz mines Victoria Quartz mine, Bendigo, Victoria, Australia (Its deepest shaft used to mine a quartz reef was almost a kilometre and a half deep.) Central Deborah Gold Mine, Bendigo (The mine still stands today. Mining began in 1938, and was continuous for 16 years. It was a deep reef quartz goldmine. During the working life of the mine, 60,000 tonnes of quartz was brought to the surface, yielding 1 tonne of gold. Gold Hill (Nevada County, California), USA (This site of one of the first discoveries of quartz gold in California, and now California Historical Landmark No. 297: "...this discovery created the great excitement that started the development of quartz mining into a great industry."

References

External links http://www.egold.net.au/biogs/EG00055b.htm http://www.egold.net.au/biogs/EG00024b.htm www.central-deborah.com/education/Project doc

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Quartz reef mining

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Quartz reef mining claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Quartz reef mining before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Quartz reef mining ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Quartz reef mining

In research: Quartz reef mining appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Quartz reef mining in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Quartz reef mining is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Gold mining, History of mining, Quartz mines, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Quartz reef mining outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Quartz reef mining in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Quartz reef mining means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Quartz reef mining out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Quartz reef mining in simple terms?

Why does Quartz reef mining matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Quartz reef mining?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Quartz reef mining.