Open AccessEconomic Evaluation of Placer Gold Along River Indus From Ghazi to Kund, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan: Implications for Commercial Scale Pilot Plant
Author(s) -
Liaqat Ali,
Shahzad Ahmad,
Seema Anjum Khattak,
Naveed Anjum,
Muhammad Waseem,
Asghar Ali
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
international journal of economic and environment geology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2223-957X
DOI - 10.46660/ojs.v10i3.324
Subject(s) - placer mining , khyber pakhtunkhwa , silt , gold mining , indus , geology , mineralogy , environmental science , metallurgy , geochemistry , materials science , geomorphology , structural basin , socioeconomics , sociology
A detailed study was conducted on Indus river in order to evaluate the economic potential. Samples werecollected for geochemical studies from both stream sediments (SS) and heavy mineral concentrates (HMC) along Indusriver from Ghazi, Hund, Beka, Alladher and Kund in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. All the samples were analyzed forgold (Au), silver (Ag) and base metals in order to get information about geochemical associations. Panning and sluicemethods were applied for the collection of these samples and extraction of visible gold. Results show that HMC havehigh Au contents, having maximum value of 44.15 g/t and 39.15 g/t in Kund and Beka areas respectively with anaverage value of 15.18 g/ton and 11.37 g/ton while the SS have average amount of Au as 0.8 g/t. In both these mediahigher concentration of gold was found in HMC. On the basis of results from both sampling media, the placer golddeposits in Kund, Alladher and Beka are considered highly economical for the commercial exploration of placer gold.Overall, the HMC derived from silt, sand, gravels and cobbles along Indus river indicated potential for placer gold thatcan be utilized for extraction of gold at commercial scale.