"Franz Heymann" wrote in message ...
"Ned Flanders" wrote in message
om...
There are no such things as gold ores to my knowledge.

Sure there is, Calaverite, Chalcocite, Bornite,
Chalcopyrite and enargite, are a few....

Gold is an almost inert element.

As far as I know, gold is always found as a simple metal.

No. That would be native gold--which is rare. Most gold is in ores.

That is incorrect.
How so? I do not consider gold that cannot be seen even under
magnification, that is locked up in other minerals to be native
gold--hence the list of known ores.

95% of the gold mined in the world occurs as native
gold, or as gold-silver alloys (or simple mechanical mixtures. I am not
quite certain).

What? why not 100%? You cite ALL of the places where gold IS. The
minerals I listed ARE ores and they fall under mechanical mixtures
which you cite as being part of your 95% of mined gold.

The only gold ore of any significance id Calaverite, which
is gold telluride, which is mined in quantities which are small compared to
the native gold mined in South Africa.

The other minerals you quote do not contain any gold in their chemical
compositions.

But the gold is a prisoner of some formations of the minerals I listed
which than makes them gold ores. Mind you it's not in all of the
formations, so a large concentration of the minerals can differ which
is why you have copper mines, gold mines, and silver mines. But it
may be that the miners are working the same minerals in each mine with
a different end product in mind. Here in Pennsylvania, the largest
gold production was from the Cornwall Iron mine, which is the longest
running iron mine in this country 1742-1972. Along with Magnetite,
Iron Pyrite, and Chalcopyrite was mined. And at the French Creek
Mine, some fifty miles away, the same minerals were mined, first for
iron production, than as a copper mine. However, the Chalcopyrite,
Iron Pyrite, and Magnetite were not auriferous, therefore there was no
gold mined at the French Creek Mine.

Cheers,

Ned