How to Extract Gold From Seawater

How to Extract Gold From Seawater

How to Extract Gold From Seawater

It sounds too good to be true but it actually is possible. The total quantity of gold and precious metals in sea water is really unbelievable. Estimates say that mankind has mined over 165,000 tons of gold since mining first began about 6,000 years ago. In contrast, the concentration of gold in seawater is, according to scientific estimates, that the oceans contain somewhere in the region of 25 billion troy ounces, and that this is growing constantly as more gold comes out from the earth's mantle.There are a few ways in which this gold could be extracted, and a few companies are conducting trials. Distillation would be one method - basically distilling seawater and refining the residue. This is not economic as the energy required to distil the water is considerable, though potentially a product of desalination plants with added stages. Besides gold, almost all naturally occurring elements are dissolved in sea water, to some degree.There is now a potentially economic solution - literally. In regions of the ocean bottom where the earth's plates - continental masses - are separating (you may have heard of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and continental drift for example), there are fissures in the ocean floor into which sea water flows. It is heated in the earth's crust (these mid oceanic ridges are made of of hot soft rock) and minerals dissolve in it. This mineral-rich water emerges through underwater fumaroles, and the minerals are deposited, which build chimney-shaped structures.Scientists have discovered over three hundred new species surviving in this apparently inhospitable environment, where temperatures can reach over 200 degrees centigrade or more and water pressure is as much as 1.5 tons per square inch. These species range from bacteria to clams and giant tube worms.Biologists believe that bacteria (also known as extremophiles) play a significant role in the precipitation of the mineral deposits which build the chimneys - sulphur-oxidizing bacteria genera such as Thiothrix or Thiovulum may be involved in this process.Some researchers have proposed that it may be possible to genetically engineer these or similar bacteria to extract gold or strategic elements and compounds from seawater. Bacteria have already been engineered to devour crude oil, so why not gold?It will be the economics that make or break this of course. Some mining companies are already developing bacteria to help with the further refining of low content gold ore waste produced from traditional gold mining operations (bio-oxidation).Recent difficulties in the world economy, and even talk of a return to the gold standard, may result in a continuing increase in gold spot prices (still increasing sharply) - probably for at least another ten years - and this will very probably tip the economic scales of gold mining and refining towards more marginal techniques.

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