[HN Gopher] Earthquakes make gold veins in an instant (2013)
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Earthquakes make gold veins in an instant (2013)
Author : divbzero
Score : 93 points
Date : 2023-12-22 10:21 UTC (2 days ago)
(HTM) web link (www.nature.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.nature.com)
| ovih wrote:
| The veins are made in the process, thought the gold itself was
| already present in the water which was vaporized due to the
| pressure of earthquake
| quickthrower2 wrote:
| Yep you need a neutron star or black hole collision I think to
| make the initial gold from more basic "elements" :-)
| NoMoreNicksLeft wrote:
| Seems like a lot of work. What if I just make boron instead?
| Everyone likes boron.
| BLKNSLVR wrote:
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghD5SHuR9mk
| denton-scratch wrote:
| I thought a boron was the particle corresponding to the
| tedium field.
| LegitShady wrote:
| its the name. boron sounds like a combination of boring and
| moron. who wants boron?
| sleeplessworld wrote:
| Nobody doesn't like molten boron! ;-)
| codemiscreant wrote:
| Or a particle accelerator, some bismuth, and low expectations
| of quantities.
| Natsu wrote:
| I thought I remembered a method using radioactive mercury
| instead, but yeah, not really fun times.
| dekhn wrote:
| He literally made the Philosopher's Stone, although
| uneconomical
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_T._Seaborg
|
| """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."""
|
| the building where plutonium was first synthesized still
| exists ont he berkeley campus although IIRC they had to
| clean it up:
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilman_Hall#Room_307
| 8bitsrule wrote:
| https://archive.ph/0w63T
| appplication wrote:
| That is interesting. I imagine the veins forming along a fault
| makes them much more difficult to safely mine
| panny wrote:
| Then Japan should be a a major gold producer, but is not.
| GrumpyNl wrote:
| There has to be gold parts already in the water.
| vinnyvichy wrote:
| 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.
|
| https://www.gov-
| online.go.jp/eng/publicity/book/hlj/html/202....
| justinzollars wrote:
| 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.
| lightedman wrote:
| "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.
| gwbrooks wrote:
| Tell me more -- please -- about opening an agate mine.
|
| I know the Mojave and know I love agates so I'm going out
| on a limb and saying I'm the man for the job.
| CapricornNoble wrote:
| I'd love to hear more about the small-scale mine ownership
| experience.
| bigbillheck wrote:
| > an endless environmental review process.
|
| Considering what mining tends to do to the surrounding
| environment, I say good for California.
| culi wrote:
| 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
| yieldcrv wrote:
| the gold had to be in the hot water already in a dissolved state
|
| that ground needs to be near the surface
|
| and geological surveys are unreliable
|
| good luck prospectors! I either just saved you 5 minutes of your
| time or 5 decades of your life.
| Pulcinella wrote:
| _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?
| awinter-py wrote:
| why is this not a james bond plot
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