[Bertus_Nel]

Did anyone try and source some "fines" from mine dumps? I know the illegal miners on the dumps is making on avg R200 a day.   

[Darrenjay]

Mine dumps have alot of gold left in them. Theres just arsenic, cyanide and mercury in them to which makes it to dangerous

[Bertus_Nel]

Cant one neutralize it, maybe heat up the sand and dump it in water, then boil the water off? Would be interesting to know - not sure how legal it is to take the sand, but will like to run that sand through a carpet and see what I get.

[Grondgeralder]

Not sure if it would be the whole dump.

This is only my crummy perception so correct me if i'm wrong.

Looked at some pictures of what illegal miners do. Looks like they are proccessing a ton for half a gram type of thing.
They also don't just do any dump, the dumpage would need to be something that is known to have some.

I think runnoff or flood spills assist here and there with reducing the ton to perhaps half a ton.

What they end up doing is tresspassing on property where no one can get hold of the property owners, and I have a suspicion that it's stuff that moved/runnoff. And stuff that the mining industry threw away a second time so to speak. They just stand and cry over people investing alot of elbow grease for a measily pay.

I wonder if there aren't perhaps some camouflaged opperations going on since the last news outbreaks.


I'd rather try streams/panning though or perhaps old crime scene's where flakes and illegal stash could have spilled.

[Grondgeralder]

Another thing to look for are some happy accidents but again. Not somethin I would do.

I wonder if some old mine dumps did not accidentally do a activated carbon extraction, where coal or charcoal got into the dump material. These saturate with cyanide gold and silver and can be chemically extracted. It's a long shot and you are most probably going to end up with lead instead. No idea... I wish I was smart.

[Darrenjay]

http://www.jhblive.com/kultcha/118399.  I think the old mines were only 70% efficient, hence they reprocessing the dumps and in a few years when technology changes, they will again reprocess.

[Bertus_Nel]

Yeah, makes sense not to go that route.

The sand is toxic and I have 2 little girls, not a good idea and my oldest like playing in sand - especially when im running dirt.. Good thought though. 

That article is a good read, will show you how far humans will go to put food on the table - but sad to know that they are hard working people and do not do crime and want to live a honest life -  yet what they are doing is considered to be a crime.   

[Grondgeralder]

It's also important to remember that some areas is "fall in areas", you don't wan't to detect about minding your own business and then dissapear down a sinkhole the next.

[Grondgeralder]

Just browsed some clips on dumps.

One was showing that they could still push a BB-gun sized pellet from a ton of waste. My question is, wouldn't the other stuff in there be worth more.. Stuff like Cobalt. Cobalt is pretty spensive today.

But I don't think reprocessing a dump is an issue with the right business plan. You could start a mass development project to house the entry level house market. Combining or making use of your waste waste from a project refining the other trace stuff and when that's done you build a golf course. I think that's kinda whats happening after seeing stuff on google earth for a while.

Is the dust really that bad, can't it be baked or made into ceramic or something?

The building projects however could use a little bit more desighn. They are a little too uniform and boring. I also dislike mass development that's not done with a propper sturdyness. If a tremor pass through there will they still stand? But it's the way expenses exponentiate(If that's a word) these days. You think you have enough budget and in the end you build cardboard houses. And then it's green cardboard making it more expensive than regular cardboard.

Legislation could also enforce policies where supporting waste projects should be a primary means of refining building constituents where the waste material is adequate or of equal quality to stuff that get's mined virgin.

I think a few successfull projects will make dump owners much easier to find.