[VIDEO] From Mining to Refinement: How Gold is Made

The production of gold is a lengthy one that involves the process of mining, extracting and smelting. From the moment it’s dug out of the ground to when it become the gold we all know and love, watch out how the precious metal is made.

Mining

The process of gold mining is somewhat straightforward. Once a site is located, companies will construct mining operations (underground or surface) and begin searching for gold ore. The ore is then collected and separated depending on two categories -- low grade or high grade ore – and dispatched according to refinement.

Extracting

If the gold ore is low grade, which means it contains less additional minerals, it can be crushed into small pieces and soaked in cyanide dilute, dissolving the gold throughout the heap.

High-grade ore requires the grinding of ore into powder form with additional processing before cyanide dilute is used.

Smelting

Once the gold ore has been mined for and extracted, the process of turning it into pure gold begins. The ore is first extracted from the cyanide solution by combining carbon to absorb the gold with special chemicals used to strip the carbon from it. Last but not least, the gold is melted using extreme temperatures and then pressed into gold bars.