The Biggest Gold discovery ever made - Earth's most productive gold district, how it was found
Summary
TLDRThe video script details the extraordinary story of the Witwatersrand Gold Rush in South Africa, which began in the 1880s. It discusses how this region became the world's leading gold producer for over a century, with one-third of all gold ever found coming from this single district. The narrative explores the initial discovery by John Davis and the subsequent influx of fortune seekers from around the globe. It also delves into the challenges faced by miners as they delved deeper into the earth, the evolution of mining techniques, and the socio-economic impact on Johannesburg. The script further examines the geological theories behind the formation of the gold deposits, contrasting the hydrothermal and placer models, and highlights the importance of understanding geology for modern-day prospectors. The speaker, Chris Ralph, shares his expertise as a professional prospector and invites viewers to learn more through his book 'Fist Full of Gold' and website, Nevada Outback Gems, offering a wealth of knowledge to those interested in the field of gold prospecting.
Takeaways
- 🌟 The Witwatersrand Basin in South Africa is the largest gold-producing district in the world, producing over 2 billion ounces of gold since its discovery in the 1880s.
- 🏆 For over a century after its discovery, the Witwatersrand Basin led the world in annual gold production until 2006.
- 🔍 The discovery of gold in the Witwatersrand Basin was initially met with suspicion and fear by local government officials who worried about an influx of foreigners and the potential loss of power.
- 💡 The gold in the Witwatersrand Basin is found in a layer of conglomerate rock, which was not what early prospectors were looking for, illustrating the importance of not overlooking potential deposits.
- 📈 The growth of Johannesburg was directly linked to the gold rush, transforming it into the largest city in southern Africa within a decade of the discovery.
- 🛠️ Mining technology evolved in the Witwatersrand Basin, with the adoption of cyanide processing in the 1890s to increase gold recovery rates.
- 🏭 By the mid-1890s, a few powerful mining companies controlled the Witwatersrand Basin, focusing on controlling production and labor costs to increase profitability.
- 📉 Despite its vast reserves, the Witwatersrand Basin's production has decreased as the easier-to-reach, higher-grade ores have been depleted, and mining has become more challenging at greater depths.
- 🔬 There are two main theories about the formation of the Witwatersrand gold deposits: the hydrothermal theory and the placer (alluvial fan) theory, with geologists still debating which is correct.
- 📚 Chris Ralph's book 'Fist Full of Gold' distills his 45 years of prospecting experience and provides comprehensive knowledge on finding gold, emphasizing the importance of skill and knowledge in gold prospecting.
- ⛏️ Modern mining in the Witwatersrand Basin faces challenges such as extreme depths, high temperatures, and rock burst hazards, but continues to produce significant amounts of gold.
Q & A
What is considered the greatest gold discovery on Earth?
-The Witwatersrand Gold Rush in South Africa is considered the greatest gold discovery on Earth, leading the world in annual gold production for over a century after its discovery in the 1880s.
What was the name of the first person who found gold in the Witwatersrand area?
-The first person who found gold in the Witwatersrand area was an English miner named John Davis.
Why was the South African government initially reluctant to embrace the gold discovery made by John Davis?
-The government, led by President Pretorius, feared that if word of the gold discovery spread, it would attract foreigners, potentially leading to a loss of Dutch control over the region and a disruption of the status quo.
What was the name of the man who discovered the main gold reef in the Witwatersrand?
-An Englishman named George Harrison discovered the main gold reef in the Witwatersrand.
Why did it take so long for the true potential of the Witwatersrand gold deposits to be recognized?
-It took time because the initial discoverers were looking for different types of gold deposits, such as quartz veins, and did not immediately recognize the significance of the conglomerate layer where the gold was actually concentrated.
What is the geographical feature of the Witwatersrand that contributed to its name?
-The Witwatersrand is a range of low-lying hills in the Transvaal region, and the name means 'White Water Ridge' in Afrikaans, referring to the white water seen in the waterfalls in the area.
How did the discovery of gold in the Witwatersrand impact Johannesburg?
-The discovery led to a massive influx of people, transforming Johannesburg from a small camp into the largest city in southern Africa within a decade, and it remains the most important metropolitan area in South Africa.
What was the role of Cecil Rhodes in the political landscape of Johannesburg in the late 19th century?
-Cecil Rhodes, a wealthy businessman from the diamond mines, organized an attempt to take over the government in 1895 due to disagreements over taxation and policies affecting mine owners, although the attempt failed.
What are the two main theories regarding the formation of the Witwatersrand gold deposits?
-The two main theories are the hydrothermal theory, which suggests that gold was deposited by hot mineralized fluids, and the placer theory, which proposes that the gold was washed in from surrounding hills and concentrated in the conglomerate layers.
What is the current state of gold mining in the Witwatersrand?
-While the Witwatersrand no longer leads the world in gold production, it continues to produce a significant amount of gold. Mining has become more challenging as the easier-to-reach deposits have been depleted, and deeper mining presents logistical and technical difficulties.
What is the significance of the conglomerate layer in the Witwatersrand gold deposits?
-The conglomerate layer is significant because it is the geological formation where the majority of the gold in the Witwatersrand deposits is found. It consists of rounded quartz cobbles and pyrite, with gold dispersed throughout.
Outlines
🌟 The Greatest Gold Discovery: Witwatersrand District 🌟
Chris Ralph introduces the Witwatersrand gold district in South Africa as the greatest gold discovery in history. The district led global gold production for over a century since its discovery in the 1880s, only being surpassed in 2006. A chart illustrates that one-third of all gold ever found by mankind comes from this district. The story behind the discovery is filled with intrigue, war, and mystery, with geologists still debating how the gold deposits formed. The lesson for prospectors worldwide is to remain open to the possibility of discovering valuable resources even when they don't fit expected patterns.
🔍 Early Discoveries and the Rise of Johannesburg 🔍
The first gold discovery in the Witwatersrand was made by John Davis in 1852. However, the local government, fearing an influx of foreigners, suppressed the news and Davis was forced to sell his gold to the government and leave the country. Despite this, more discoveries were made, and by 1886, a gold rush began, attracting prospectors from around the globe. The area transformed into a boomtown, eventually becoming Johannesburg, the largest city in South Africa. The growth of the city was accompanied by an increase in vices and crime, and the government's suspicion towards the British and other foreigners who were seen as threats to the local way of life.
🏭 The Evolution of Mining in the Witwatersrand 🏭
The Witwatersrand gold rush resulted in the establishment of claims and the growth of a shantytown, which evolved into Johannesburg. The government initially underestimated the longevity of the gold deposits but was proven wrong as mining expanded. By the mid-1890s, the mining district was dominated by a few powerful companies with substantial capital and workforces. These companies initially used stamp mill crushing and amalgamation but later adopted cyanide processing to increase gold recovery rates. The Witwatersrand's consistent and reliable gold deposits made it the world's largest gold-producing area.
📊 Witwatersrand's Impact on Mining and Labor 📊
The Witwatersrand mines have been operational for 135 years, producing over 2 billion ounces of gold. Despite the depletion of the higher-grade ores, the district still holds an estimated reserve of over a billion ounces. The mines have reached depths of over 12,000 feet, where heat and rock burst hazards necessitate advanced cooling systems and the exploration of robotics for mining. Companies like Harmony, Gold Fields, and AngloGold Ashanti continue to operate some of the world's largest gold mines in the region.
🏞️ Geological Insights into the Witwatersrand Deposits 🏞️
The Witwatersrand's gold-bearing conglomerate layers are explored in detail, showcasing their appearance and composition. The gold is found within a layer of conglomerate that is sandwiched between sandstone layers. The formation of these deposits is a subject of debate among geologists, with theories ranging from hydrothermal activity to ancient alluvial fan deposits. The presence of rounded pyrite and gold particles suggests transportation and deposition through water flow, supporting the alluvial fan theory. Regardless of the formation theory, the Witwatersrand remains a rare example of a gold-bearing conglomerate deposit.
🌐 Global Comparisons and Exploration for Similar Deposits 🌐
The rarity and scale of the Witwatersrand deposits are emphasized by comparing them to other known gold-bearing conglomerate areas like the Tara fields in Ghana, the Jacobina gold deposit in Brazil, and parts of the Black Hills in South Dakota. None of these deposits match the Witwatersrand's production. Companies like Novo Resources are exploring for similar deposits, such as an ancient paleo-placer in Western Australia's Pilbara region. The key to finding such deposits is to look in areas with known gold occurrences.
📚 Chris Ralph's Book and Prospecting Wisdom 📚
Chris Ralph promotes his book 'Fist Full of Gold,' which distills his over 45 years of prospecting experience and academic knowledge into a comprehensive guide for finding gold. The book covers various aspects of gold prospecting, including geology, deposit formation, and techniques for finding gold. It has received high ratings and positive feedback from readers. Ralph also mentions his website, Nevada Outback Gems, where he shares stories, adventures, and sells jewelry and gemstones. He encourages viewers to subscribe to his channel for weekly prospecting adventures and insights.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Gold Discovery
💡Witwatersrand (Wit's Water Ridge)
💡Gold Production
💡Gold-bearing Conglomerate
💡Gold Rush
💡Geology
💡Hydrothermal Theory
💡Pleistocene Theory
💡Mining Companies
💡Cyanide Process
💡Gold Prospecting
Highlights
The Witwatersrand Basin in South Africa is the largest gold-producing district in the world, with over 2 billion ounces of gold extracted since its discovery in the 1880s.
The Witwatersrand Basin led the world in annual gold production for over a century, only being surpassed in 2006.
One-third of all the gold ever found by mankind has come from the Witwatersrand Basin.
The discovery of gold in the Witwatersrand Basin was initially met with suspicion and fear by local politicians, who worried about an influx of foreigners.
The first discovery of gold in the region was made by an English miner, John Davis, in 1852, but the find was suppressed by the local government.
The Witwatersrand gold deposits were not recognized for their potential until the 1880s, despite earlier minor finds.
The geology of the Witwatersrand involves a layer of conglomerate rock that contains the majority of the gold.
The Witwatersrand gold deposits were formed through a process that is still debated among geologists, with theories ranging from hydrothermal to placer deposits.
The gold in the Witwatersrand Basin is often found in association with pyrite, and some gold particles have been dated to be older than the conglomerate formation.
Modern mining in the Witwatersrand Basin faces challenges such as extreme depths, high temperatures, and rock burst hazards.
The Witwatersrand Basin still has an estimated reserve of over a billion ounces of gold, although the remaining deposits are deeper and of lower grade.
The Witwatersrand Basin's mining history has significant lessons for modern-day prospectors, emphasizing the importance of not overlooking potential deposits.
The discovery and development of the Witwatersrand Basin have shaped the economic and social landscape of South Africa, leading to the establishment of Johannesburg.
The gold mining industry in the Witwatersrand Basin has evolved from surface mining to deep-level mining, reaching depths of over 12,000 feet.
The Witwatersrand Basin's mining operations are now dominated by a few large mining companies that control the majority of the production.
Despite the challenges, the Witwatersrand Basin continues to be a significant contributor to global gold production, with ongoing exploration for new deposits.
Author Chris Ralph shares his expertise in gold prospecting through his book 'Fist Full of Gold', distilling decades of experience and knowledge into a comprehensive guide.
The book 'Fist Full of Gold' is highly rated and has sold over 15,000 copies, providing readers with valuable insights into finding gold deposits.
Transcripts
I'm going to tell you about by far the
greatest gold Discovery ever made on
planet Earth there is no other District
that's even close not even nearby
nothing it's by Far and Away the
greatest of all gold districts from
every year after its Discovery in the
1880s it led the world in annual gold
production for over a century in fact it
wasn't until
2006 remember it was discovered in the
1880s it wasn't until 2006 that some
other District on planet Earth produced
more that year than this District did
don't believe me that this was earth's
greatest gold Discovery Well let me show
you a chart to prove it to you so this
circle chart represents all the gold
that's ever been found by mankind from
the first caveman who picked up a nugget
in a stream down to Gold that's been
produced recently in Big M with Cyanide
and all together of all the millions of
ounces of gold that have been recovered
by mankind onethird of it has come from
one District in all the Earth and that
word one district is the with Waters
Rand District in South Africa all the
rest of the world combined all of
Australia all of the United States all
of Canada Mexico Central America South
America Europe uh Asia including Russia
China uh the West African gold mines the
North African gold mines all of them put
together is 2/3 and the one district
with wat Rand is onethird of all the
gold we've ever dug it's a strange story
of intrigue and suspicion of war and
strange government officials that didn't
want gold to be found and geologists
still to this day argue amongst each
other as how the gold got there to begin
with it's a story pretty much like no
other so let me tell you all about the
discovery and working of the famous
wiwat ran District in South Africa and
even if you don't live in South Africa
or nearby or visit that country there's
still a number of lessons for
Prospectors all over the globe to learn
from this
Discovery from this district and how it
was worked hey I'm Chris Ralph the
professional prospector and today we're
looking at the W Waters ran gold
discoveries in South Africa now um if
you live in South Africa and you speak
afrian which is the native dialects one
of the uh languages spoken there you
would pronounce it more like vit V
rant but I'm American and I pronounce
things the American way cuz I live in
America and so we're going to call call
it with Waters ran because that's how
it's normally pronounced here although
this guy was not the person who
discovered gold on the witw Rand uh the
first guy who found gold in the region
who you know discovered the first gold
Discovery in the area was a guy named
John Davis he was an English minology
and knew a lot about Mining and gold and
he made this first discovery and he made
this first discovery way back in 18 52
at the time the area was part of a Dutch
boore Republic called the South African
Republic and the people that were there
most of the people were descendants from
the Netherlands or Dutch and uh they had
settled there and Bo kind of means
farmer so they they moved in and started
farms and built towns and they were
settling the land Mr Davis showed his
gold find to then president notorious
and expected that he his find would be
welcomed most politicians when uh gold
is discovered in their land that's great
you know they're excited about it cuz
it's going to bring wealth to their
Nation but pretorius feared what would
happen to his country if the word got
out and the find was spread around
because new people would come and swarm
in probably a lot of them not Dutch
Boors and that they would take over the
country and force the the native the
people that were living there to take on
a different life and of course he would
probably lose power as president he
didn't want Outsiders to come in and
outnumber the people that were living
there and that was more important to him
than the find of gold that Davis had
made Davis was warned that if he told
any foreign powers about his Discovery
and that if a disturbance was created he
would be captured and given the death
penalty Tavis was told to sell his gold
to the government treasury which they
paid him the going rate for and he had
about 140 o that wasn't a bad Discovery
for a single guy right but he was
subsequently escorted to the border and
basically kicked out of the country he
went back to an English colony called
the cape Colony there at the southern
tip of Africa a few other people also
made small fines in the area of the
South African Republic and they were
similarly told that if they let their
Discovery be made widely known that they
would be given the death
penalty at this place in time the Dutch
bors and the English in the southern
part of Africa were highly suspicious of
each other you see this was a time when
England was conquering countries all
over the world and taking over land and
expanding their empire it was the time
when the Sun never set on the English
Empire because it was so far flung
around the globe there was always a part
where the Sun was shining because of
this the English say that it was an
Englishman that discovered that wers ran
deposits and the Dutch say that it was a
Dutch man who discovered them now the
truth is the Dutch guy is the one who
first found gold in the W Waters ran
formation but he only found minor
amounts of gold it was the Englishman
that found the main Reef the main Zone
where the gold comes from in the waters
Rand and yet neither one of them were
really uh aware of the scale and
potential of Their fines uh it's thought
that the Englishman his name was George
Harrison sold his claims uh on the wit
Waters ran for uh less than 10B which in
Modern English or modern American money
is a few thousand he took off to another
area where there was gold because he
thought the prospecting was better and
no one ever heard from him again but
there were a lot of people who were a
lot more farsighted and by 1886 an army
of diggers had descended upon the W
Waters ran hacking away with pics and
shovels and uh digging along a line of
deposit that soon stretched for almost
40 miles going east to west a swarm of
Fortune Seekers started to arrive from
all over the Earth including Australians
uh Californians from the US uh Welsh
Miners and uh Cornish from England and
literally Prospectors scattered from all
over the globe the newly arrived
Prospectors began prospecting the entire
area and started finding quite a bit of
gold part of the problem with why it
took so long to find these deposits and
to recognize their potential you know it
wasn't like the first guy first guys who
found them really saw the potential it
took so long to recognize the potential
you know why because it wasn't what they
were really looking for they were
thinking quartz veins and that kind of
stuff and it doesn't look like that the
W Waters ran and we're going to talk
more about this is a layer of
conglomerate in some other rocks and the
Rocks above and below have little or no
gold in them but this layer of
conglomerate is where all the values are
and this is a big lesson to modern-day
Prospectors because uh a lot of times we
get so focused on one type of thing that
we're looking for that we ignore the
good stuff that's right in front of us
um the same thing happened in the United
States the world's second largest gold
deposits uh second largest District or
region is the Carlin Trend in Nevada and
uh thousands tens of thousands of early
day Pioneers hiked right through there
took their wagons right through there
never recognizing that there was big
deposits of gold all around them because
the Carlin rock it just doesn't look
like anything that you'd recognize as
being a gold deposit so and the same
thing happened here in South Africa so
that's a big lesson to us to keep an eye
on what's really there and to test
things and to not get so focused on one
thing that you ignore the good stuff
that's right next to you now the wat
Rand is a range of low-lying hills in
the transval region the name means
Whitewater Ridge bit bers R okay that's
what it means it means White Water Ridge
let's take a look at some photographs of
the region this is a general view of the
region you can see Rolling Hills and
then the various lines of sedimentary
rocks that are outcropping you can see
here they're turned up almost vertical
but uh the sedimentary rocks are overlin
by some volcanic rocks and honestly you
know I wouldn't take this as the world's
greatest place to prospect but it turns
out that you know it has gold in it that
you wouldn't have suspected there are a
number of picturesque waterfalls uh that
come down and you can see how it gets
the name White
Water this time around other than
compared to the time when gold was first
discovered this time around the
government was willing to accept that
this was a a valid gold find and so they
opened up the area to claim now now
still at this time they didn't think it
would last they thought it would be like
a lot of other districts maybe work for
a few years and then it would Peter out
and that sort of thing and so uh the
government just didn't really think that
much of it in the short term right after
the discovery but the gold fines did not
give out and it kept increasing and more
fines were made and production kept
going up and more people came in and the
gold region just grew and grew a shanty
town was soon built in the area you know
boom Town typical Boom Town and the camp
was known as ferraria Camp however
within a few years this continuing to
grow and sprawl Camp became known as
Johannesburg like many Gold Rush towns
um this you know Gold Rush Town nurtured
basically every form of Vice Banks and
boarding houses competed for space with
over 500 saloons imagine a boom toown
with 500 saloons that's crazy but this
was a really really big Boom Town
criminal organizations groups with roots
in New York City and London found
fertile space to operate in the new
Johannesburg Town within 10 years
Johannesburg was the largest town in the
southern part of Africa the gold rust
saw a massive development of the whole
area and even to this day Johannesburg
is still the largest and most important
metropolitan area in in South Africa
destitute boor Farmers driven from their
lands by debt and by drought uh
clustered in the slum surrounding
Johannesburg uh blacks from neighboring
countries uh migrated to the area often
in large ethnic groups and worked in the
mines signing contracts to work for 6
to9 months and then after they've
completed their contract they would
return home to their rural farms and
lands however some of the blacks settled
permanently in the city
carving out uh niches to work for
various companies uh sometimes as Rick
Shaw drivers uh domestic workers and uh
washermen by 1896 Johannesburg had grown
to a city of over 100,000 people the
waters ran Discovery ushered in an
influx of largely British labor and
capital uh centered on Johannesburg
where the foreigners were seen as
Outsiders and Intruders
remember the government and the Dutch
boers were very suspicious of the
English and they were seen as unwelcome
visitors with a hope that they would go
home soon they were considered to be a
threat to the government and to the
boore farmers way of life but the
powerful mine owners had another way of
viewing things and they wanted a
government that was sympathetic to their
needs however instead the government uh
gave a huge taxes to to various things
they greatly taxed dynamite and some
other things uh trying to slow down the
power and the progress of the big mine
owners and this agitated the mine owners
and uh a lot of the other British
citizens that had power and they took it
as an excuse to try and take over the
government in
1895 the uh mine owners led by Cecil
rhods who was Big Rich uh from the
diamond mines uh he led well he didn't
lead himself but he basically hired and
organized an army to take over the
government and the unfortunate things
they only had 500 men and so they lost
big time uh they couldn't take over the
government with 500 men when it failed
the boor president and the Bor
government began to prepare for a war uh
that they thought was inevitable and yet
the gold deposits of the waters ran
continued to produce heavily and it was
amazingly reliable producing
consistently a good moderate grade of
gold ore that was productive to mine and
work the reef though dips away from the
surface uh to hundreds and ultimately
many thousands of feet deep in the Earth
by the mid 1890s the entire W Waters
Rand mining District was in the hands of
a limited number of half a dozen or so
very powerful massive mining companies
Each of which had thousands of workers
and millions of dollars in capital
raised mostly in Europe and the United
States the Mind owners strove to
increase the profitability of their ore
by controlling production and labor
costs and squeezing them as hard as they
could in order to increase their
profitability although they started with
the classic methods of stamp Mill
crushing and uh recovering the gold by
amalgamation um by the 1890s they
quickly adopted Ed the new process or
then new process of cyanide to recover
even higher rate from their ores and uh
they made a big increase in production
because of the cyanide let's take a look
at some early day mining in South Africa
the outcrops on the surface uh were
worked first and you know on the surface
then they were worked as surface uh
diggings and so the initial diggings
were all on the surface basically
basically strip mining the uh layers of
conglomerate a lot of the early surface
workings were very primitive and very
simple um the miners didn't invest a lot
in the deposits because they weren't
sure how far they would go down but they
kept going deeper and deeper and it
wasn't long before they could no longer
work them from the surface to work the
deposits as they dipped down below the
ground um eventually the miners had to
put in shafts and hoist equipment M and
all the necessary stuff to continue
working it as the layer of conglomerate
rich in Gold got deeper and deeper and
Mining The Ore underground was of course
much more expensive than the initial
mining of it on the surface but they
found that the uh conglomerate layer or
the the wreath as they called it uh was
reliably good with gold it wasn't spotty
like a lot of quartz veins are where
they're good in places but not enough
others the conglomerate Reef was
consistent and reliably good moderate
grade profitable
ore as I've been saying the with
waterand District in South Africa is by
a landslide the largest gold producing
District in the entire world it's
produced in 135 years of mining over 2
billion that's B with a billion with a B
billion ounces of gold and an average
grade of about a half an ounce per ton
or around 15 G per ton the current head
grade of course the the best easiest
stuff was taken first the current head
grade it runs around 6 to 10 G per ton
um that's you know close to a/4 ounce to
maybe a third of an ounce per ton but
the deposit still has estimated reserves
of over a billion ounces now this gold
that that's still left that has hasn't
been mind is the stuff that's harder to
get to it's deeper down and uh thinner
and lower grade so you know obviously in
most cases in the wh Waters ran to the
miners took the best stuff first but the
reserves of a billion ounces is still
five times more than what the Carlin
Trend in Nevada has produced and and the
reserves that we have of upwards of
maybe 200 million the way Waters R
deposits extend for huge distances over
100 miles in some
areas but like I say the easy stuff is
gone and the stuff that's left is hard
to get to now the water Rand still
produces a significant amount of gold
it's just greatly decreased from what it
had been for many decades the deepest
shafts are over 12,000 ft deep that's
more substantially more than 2 miles
deep and down when you get that far into
the Earth you start to actually get heat
from the center of the earth coming up
the Rock at that air you know down that
deep at 12,000 ft is around 60° C or
about 140° F which is just too hard for
you know human miners to work so they
have chilling uh systems to cool the
areas down and uh and there's also
they're looking in various places into
robotics to be able to mine the material
you know in conditions that humans can't
withstand the ores uh that are left are
only about 12 to 18 in thick um the the
the productive uh conglomerate layer and
yet still to this day these deposits and
what's left and what's being produced
out of them support some of the biggest
gold mines in the world uh this includes
Harmony SI gold Fields Anglo gold
Ashanti let's take a look at some more
about the geology of these deposits and
uh what they look like and the ores what
they look like and and then we'll talk
about the uh theories of formation which
like I say geologists still disagree
let's take a look at the ores and the
geology the basic geology right now
let's start off with what the uh what
the conglomerate layers look like and
this is what in the face of an
underground mine the gold-bearing
conglomerate layer would look like you
can see all the white quartz rounded
cobbles and indeed this was a gravel
type deposit of sorts and you can't see
it so well but sprinkled through that
conglomerate layer is a whole lot of
pyite a lot of which is stuff that came
later and the pyite was deposited
perhaps after the uh the conglomerate
form but some of it was depos posited at
the same time as the quartz cobbles
here's another uh view a close-up view
of the conglomerate and you can see the
rounded quartz pebbles in this and you
know it it's rounded quartz with stuff
in between and if you look closely you
can actually see that cracks in the Rock
go through the quartz Pebbles so uh this
has been very well solidified uh over
all the millions of years it since it
was laid down you can see little bits of
pyite in this if you're seeing it in
person but it's hard to see in this
Photograph here's another close-up view
of the gold bearing conglomerate from
the witw Rand again the white rounded
quartz cobbles but in this one you can
see the pyite real plainly the yellow
stuff in here Is Not Gold it's pyite and
there's you can see quite a bit of it
now uh there is gold in this but in
general in most of the W Waters Rand
ores the gold is not visible easily to
the naked eye again here is another shot
of the conglomerate layer and you can
see it's kind of sandwiched between
shayy s Sandstone below and some
Sandstone above but in between is this
conglomerate layer that dips down and
that's where all the gold is and here is
an outcrop of this gold bearing
conglomerate material on the surface uh
you can see it's been thoroughly
oxidized whatever pyite was in it has
been converted to the red Brown iron
oxides and then but you can still see
the rounded quartz cobbles even though
the rest of the material is starting to
wear away but this is what would have
been found by the first discoverers and
they tested it and bound gold in it now
I do want to add that conglomerate is
actually a very common Rock and you know
it occurs in many many places worldwide
and
99.999% % of the time it doesn't have
any significant gold in it gold-bearing
conglomerate really is a one in a
million kind of a thing uh it's just
rare now the conglomerate though is
actually pretty common okay so let's
look at the geology of the W Waters Rand
and it's thought that there were
gold-bearing Hills up above and streams
went out of it into a shallow Inland
Inland Sea where the with Waters round
Basin was and that these streams and
rivers had quite a bit of gold in them
and the gold was eventually deposited in
the delta in the aluvial fan that uh is
at the bottom of the stream where it
dumped the Inland sea the material just
flowed into this huge Basin and built up
layer after layer after layer of sand
and gravels and occasional bits of lava
when there were eruptions and uh a
eventually it came to be that the Basin
was fairly full and the sediments
leading into it comparatively flat and
you see these big aluvial fans coming
out of the mountains the Green Hills
marked here are gold-bearing green
stones that are contributing pyite and
gold and other heavy minerals into this
Basin into the aluvial fan and then once
the river got out of the hills and into
this big flat aluvial fan it was this
braided stream system different lines
but it layered out that when there were
periods of heavier rain and more water
you would get layers of conglomerate and
these conglomerates would be the
material that washed the gold and pyite
and other heavy minerals out of the
hills in this diagram you see the dashed
line is kind of the north edge of the
basin and the orange brown areas along
the north Edge and also the West edge of
the Basin are the aluvial fans that were
coming into the Basin from the hills
with Rich gold veins in them uh and this
is the Lal fans that were dumping into
the Basin in this map the areas marked
in blue are the areas that have been
mined uh for their gold and you can see
that it correlates really well with
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gold and pyite uraninite uranium oxide
mineral and you know eventually like say
more than 11 kilm of sedimentary rocks
and then uh many miles more or many
kilometers more of volcanic rocks were
laid in on top even though because it
tilts the material outcrops at the
surface and the outcrops are all in the
general area near Johannesburg where it
was first discovered and first worked
but from there they dip deep deep deep
down into the Earth and because they
continue down such a long long distance
the mines continue to go deeper and
deeper to get the ore there's two major
camps of uh how people look at these
deposits one is the hydrothermal which
means that you know hot mineralized
fluids came up from down below and
mineralize these layers of conglomerate
and put the gold in them and the uranium
and other minerals the pyod in them and
and that's how it formed the other form
the other theory of formation is that
they were basically laid down as plaster
deposits and uh long ago um uh streams
draining out of the hills to the north
of the water strand uh material came out
of the hills and formed a giant aluvial
fans and the material you know was
sorted through there and the layer that
had the bigger uh pieces of quartz the
conglomerate and stuff would also have
the gold in it as
well over over the years uh these two
different theories have traded places
there's been times when the hydrothermal
theory was favored by many geologists
and not too many people thought pler and
yet there's also been times when more
people thought pler and not so many
thought hydrothermal so they've kind of
traded places back and forth and and
it's been this way since the early days
the the early days of the discovery of
it people were arguing about how it
Formed here's a couple of quick diagrams
to explain these two different points of
view this would be the pler model and
you can see streams coming off of gold
Rich uh Source area there's and there
are
Rich greenstone belt areas surrounding
the wat ran Basin uh the streams brought
gold in and the gold was concentrated in
the conglomerate layers because well
that's where the coarser material are is
the gold would not have concentrated in
the silts and and other fine Sands but
that just like any modern plaster would
concentrate in the coarser materials
like the conglomerate and this model
would be what the hydrothermal model
looked like it would be that long after
the conglomerates were buried and
covered over with Basalt and other
sediments that gold bearing hydrothermal
fluids coming up from faults down below
would find their way up and then find
their way into the conglomerate because
that's the layer where the fluids would
find an easier time of flowing and
moving through and then they Dro their
goal and the gold was deposited into
these conglomerate
layers both theories allow that the gold
kind of tends to look more um it kind of
tends to look more hydrothermal the a
lot of the little pieces are angular and
sharp and but there are some pieces of
gold in the thing that are rounded and
look like they have undergone rolling
and that sort of thing in
plasters and a lot of the gold can be in
small fractures and stuff in the Rock
and one of the things that kind of both
camps agree on is that after deep burial
with all the sulfur from the pyate um
and the hot water for the Deep burial
that after all that that the hot water
and the sulfur have kind of mineralized
the gold and dissolved it in part and
kind of moved it around so you have in
any case some local dissolving and
movement of the gold doesn't mean that
it's moved any long distance but maybe
inches or feet in in in order to
redeposit uh based on that sort of
thing so both sides seem to have you
know different things that they agree on
but things they disagree on uh from my
perspective an important observation is
that the gold is almost all in this
conglomerate layer and as we plaster
miners know the bigger gold you know
even a small flood level gold will be
associated with gravels and that the
really fine Sands and a mud Stone and
that kind of stuff there's not going to
be any significant gold in that and the
deposits of the waters R uh do that I
mean that's how they look um another
thought is that uh much of the pyite and
some of the gold grains themselves like
I say are rounded indicative of pyite
and so both those facts tend to enfor
and tend to support the plaster
model more recent science and Analysis
by uh um scientists have actually been
able to uh estimate the age of the gold
particles and they found that a lot of
the gold particles show geologic ages
older than the conglomerate formation so
this would mean that the gold particles
exist Ed before the conglomerate was
formed and that lens uh Credence to the
plaster
model and although there are geologists
certainly that put out scientific papers
that support the hydrothermal model my
my for my dollar for my point of view um
I would more support the
plaster you know that these things are
laid out in big giant aluvial
fans now paleo plasters or ancient
plasters like the W Waters
have been found in a few other places on
Earth um one of them is the Tara fields
in West Africa in Ghana um the jacobina
gold deposit in Brazil um and even a
portion of the Black Hills in South
Dakota some of the gold that came from
that is thought to have come from
ancient PL paleo
plers however none of these deposits
none of them are come even even anywhere
near close to the incredible production
of the waters Rand there are a few
companies that are exploring uh deposits
like this um one of them is Novo
resources uh who's exploring uh a pler
or ancient pler in the palara region of
Western Australia let's take a look at
uh some of the uh pilbara area
conglomerate material and see how much
it looks like the WW R it just doesn't
doesn't have the size and scope and the
gold that the South African deposits do
now here's a picture of the gold-bearing
conglomerates from the pilbara region of
Western Australia and you can see they
really do look pretty much exactly like
the gold-bearing conglomerate outcrops
in the witw Strand area and you know
like I say just because there's a
conglomerate doesn't mean that it's got
gold in it um you know it's gravel and
gravels sometimes have gold one of the
things if you're going to go looking for
gold-bearing conglomerates it needs to
be in an area where there's known to be
gold in the WW Rand area the hills that
are to the north that dumped into the WW
Rand Basin yeah there's known gold
deposits up there that are still exposed
today and the pbar region of Western
Australia yep there's known gold
deposits all around there and the same
is true with some of the other places
including the Black Hills of South
Dakota there's certainly known gold
deposits around the area where there's
some gold bearing conglomerates ancient
conglomerates so that's just a hint for
prospecting for these things you want to
be in an area where there's known
gold so after 135 years of continuous
Mining and that's another thing you know
most big mining districts get mine for a
number of years maybe decades but then
eventually the or plays out well the wh
Waters Rand has been continuously minded
since its Discovery in
1886 but the production you know like I
say the the easy stuff is gone and the
stuff that's left is more and more
difficult to to mine and by 2014 uh the
production of the wood rers Rand had
fallen to only about 15% of total World
production still the with wat Rand mines
are by no means worked out and the area
still has a very large resource although
like I say almost all of it is below
10,000 ft uh down to get to it and
Mining at those kind of depths presents
a whole lot of problems and one of the
things that's about that is it dips at
not a very steep angle the the deposits
of the waters ran and when you get down
that deep the rock is under huge
pressure and you literally get not rock
falls but Rock bursts because it's it's
under so much pressure The Rock can
literally explode out uh because it's
under such incredible pressure of all
the rock above it but with all the
difficulties uh the the water Rand
continues produce and exploration for uh
extensions and uh new layers of deposits
continues in the area
and overall the you know the prospect
for continued production in South Africa
is a good one now wherever you are uh
whatever you're doing finding gold is
always a skill it's always work whether
you're in South Africa or the United
States Australia elsewhere Canada um
wherever you are you know what your
knowledge of gold and gold deposits is
makes a difference and you know the more
you know the less likely you are to
ignore good things like I talked about
early where people look so much for one
thing that they ignore something else
that's good next to them um so the more
you know the better off you are and I
wrote a book to give you the skills of
gold prospecting and if you're
interested in going out and finding your
own gold this book is a great start it's
called fist full of gold because that's
what I want you to go out and find
fistfuls of gold for yourself and I'm
going to tell you a little bit more
about my book right
now so this is my book fist full of gold
you can see it's an encyclopedia
distilling down my 45 plus years of
prospecting experience plus my degree
into the parts that you need to
know I spent most of 10 years writing
this it was not just a simple effort
that uh oh I sat down and wrote it you
can see it's like a quarter of a million
words
it's not something you're going to read
through in a day or maybe even a week or
more but it's got a lot of information
and reference material that you can come
back to you know you can read it once
and read it again and get more out of it
because there's just that much depth of
material in this I wrote this book
because I want you to have the skills to
go out and find fistfuls of gold for
yourself and if you have the skills and
know what you're doing doing and get out
in the field and make a real effort you
can find significant gold it's not easy
I'm not going to tell you that because
you know gold if it wouldn't be you know
close to $2,000 an ounce which is what
it is right now it wouldn't be so
expensive if it was easy to find it's
not easy you just can't walk out into an
old Goldfield and start picking up
nuggets if the if the gold was easy to
see and find the oldtimers would have
picked it up and taken it themselves so
you got to have skill you got to know
what you're doing you got to be able to
to master what it takes to find gold and
you've got to have the persistence and
put in the effort to find the material
to find the gold or diamonds or
gemstones that you're looking for now
this has book has geology it has facts
about gold it has stuff about diamonds
and platinum but it's mostly about gold
gold deposits how gold deposits form how
plaster and Nuggets form you know all
the questions you probably wanted to ask
the book is available on Amazon and I'll
put a link to it in the description
below but you can look up on Amazon fful
of gold and by Chris Ralph and find this
book now the book If you look on it it
has a very high rating it has like a 4.7
or 4.8 out of five which is a really
high High I mean it's hard to please
everybody but I'm close to a five out of
five not far from it right so it's been
out I've sold more than 15,000 copies of
this book and I've had tremendous
response tremendous positive response by
the people who buy it and I think if you
buy it you'll be just as happy with it
now in addition to my book I also have a
website that I do and I'll tell tell you
a little bit more about my website and
show you some images from the website
right now now my website is Nevada
Outback gems.com and I'll put a link to
the prospecting page this prospecting
encyclopedia page down in the
description below but you can find it at
Nevada Outback gems I sell some jewelry
turquoise other gemstones there uh I
don't always keep the uh inventory
perfectly up to date so if you're
interested in anything you see do
contact me first before trying to send
me money or anything because I want you
to be able to get what you order but the
website has lots of different stories
old Adventures uh even some stories uh
true stories from the oldtime miners of
the 1800s so I think it's something
you'll find interesting the other thing
I want to go back to is that all my
comments I want you guys to ask
questions on the comments for my videos
I answer
100% of the comments that are made on my
videos now sometimes if somebody just
says hey great video I really enjoyed it
you know I the comment may just be well
I'm really glad you liked it uh or or
you know if it's a simple question um
and sometimes I get people who ask me a
question I would take a book to answer
that question and I recommend that they
just buy the book but I answer all my
questions I try to help people as much
as I can I'm here to help you so if
you're interested in gaining the skills
if you're interested in knowing what you
need to know to be successful follow
along with me subscribe to my channel
hit the Bell so that they'll let you
know when I come out with new videos and
I try to do that pretty much every
Saturday morning and you'll enjoy with
me you'll come along with me we'll have
an adventure together and we will find
some nice gold and see what it's really
like getting out in the woods or the
deserts or the mountains wherever we
land wherever the gold is wherever the
diamonds are wherever the Platinum is
come along we'll have some fun and I'll
see you real soon on the next video
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