The method by which gold is extracted from the earth depends on the type of deposit. Lode deposits, which appear as veins in the earth, are removed with brute force, using techniques as simple as picks and axes, to as complex as explosive blasting, depending on the amount of gold. Placer deposits, which contain gold that has washed or otherwise been naturally removed from a lode vein, uses hydraulics technology, machine diggers and dredging.

Can gold be extracted from sea water?

The world's oceans hold a vast amount of gold, but in very low concentrations (perhaps 1-2 parts per 10 billion.)

A number of people have claimed to be able to economically recover gold from sea water, but so far they have all been either mistaken or crooks. Reverend Prescott Jernegan ran a gold-from-seawater swindle in the United States in the 1890s. A British fraudster ran the same scam in England in the early 1900s.

Fritz Haber attempted commercial extraction of gold from sea water in an effort to help pay Germany's reparations following World War I. Unfortunately, his assessment of the concentration of gold in sea water was unduly high, probably due to sample contamination.

No commercially viable mechanism for performing gold extraction from sea water has yet been identified.

Is gold recyclable?

Gold is so durable that essentially all gold used today is recovered and ultimately reused.

Where is gold found?

Gold is found in many countries of the world. As of 2006 the world's gold-producing nations were: Algeria, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burma, Burundi, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, French Guiana, Gabon, Georgia, Ghana, Greenland, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ivory Coast, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Malaysia, Mali, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Namibia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Papua New Guinea, Peru, The Phillipines, Poland, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, South Africa, South Korea, Sudan, Suriname, Sweden, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, The United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.