gold deposits
Underground precious metal
Gold deposits are natural accumulations of gold in the earth's crust, concentrated enough to be worth extracting.
They form through geological processes over millions of years and occur as veins in rock, placer deposits in riverbeds, or disseminated through ore bodies.
Mining companies explore for gold deposits; prospectors stake claims on them: The survey revealed significant gold deposits in the northern range.
- alluvialDeposited by moving water
- lodeMineral-rich rock seam
- mother lodePrincipal ore deposit
- placerMineral-rich sediment accumulation
- disseminatedSpread widely abroad
craton · cyanidation · porphyry · underground mining · supergene enrichment · flotation · panning · vein · bullion · sluicing · orogenic · dredging · pay dirt · mining · residual · bonanza · strike it rich · rush
- Australian Miningbauxite, iron ore, opal, nickel, copper mines
- US GeologyAppalachians, Rocky Mountains, Rockies, Grand Canyon, San Andreas Fault
- mineralizationcalcification, crystallization, fossilization, petrification, precipitation
- mineralsquartz, marble, granite, limestone, sandstone
- natural resourcescrude oil, lumber, water, gas, air
- Canadian Shieldboreal forest, glacial lakes, Hudson Bay, Lake Superior, metamorphic rock