Where does gold come from? with AZ Nugget Bob...

[AzNuggetBob 1,544]

Gold

We know how, why and for the most part where it forms in the earth's crusts, but do we know with any certainty were it came from? could this help point out where to find it?

AzNuggetBob

[Reno Chris 423]

Thick encyclopedias of study and research have been written by Phd. geologists on the subject and still the geologists disagree to a certain extent. It's not a subject where a paragraph or two answers the question and puts you on the gold. Most gold has been deposited from a solution, but the environments and circumstances vary widely.

Or are you asking where it came from in the Universe? Like exploding stars?

[AzNuggetBob 1,544]

I agree Chris. That's why I thought it may be an interesting subject to discuss. glad to have you here. I really appreciate your opinion. AzNuggetBob

Edited December 12, 2014 by AzNuggetBob

[AzNuggetBob 1,544]

OK Chris I'll kick this off.

with a little more than a paragraph. some think gold came in with meteorites?

If so show me a meteorite that has an appreciable amount of gold? If so how many meteorites would it take to produce the gold we have found,much less how much is still in the ground?

I dont know of any meteorite that has ever been found to disprove this? JMO

Chris I just like kicking these ideas around and every once awhile someone comes up with a new idea?

AzNuggetBob

[weaver hillbille 488]

From certain stardust...

http://nci.org.au/research/seeking-heavy-metal-in-the-stars/

"Red giant stars up to eight times the mass of our Sun are the birthing suites of nearly half of all the elements in the universe heavier than iron. In their death and dissolution they yield many of the things which make human life worthwhile and pleasurable – but the process by which metals originally form remains cloaked in mystery.

As stars of this particular size reach the end of their lives, they inflate into cool, bright giants while their innermost cores shrink and heat to hundreds of millions of degrees. In the heart of this stellar inferno thermonuclear processes forge new elements — the slow capture of neutrons by atomic cores to build increasingly heavy substances. These weighty fragments, churned to the surface through turbulent mixing, are borne away on a superwind — the last gasp of the dying star — to form drifting, dusty planetary nebulae.

The nebulae in turn gradually coalesce to form new suns, planets, the lead on your fishing line, the tin in your tinnie, the mercury in your thermometer, the yttrium in your colour TV, the lanthanum in your hybrid car battery, the tantalum in your mobile phone, the neodymium in your wind turbine, the rubidium in your GPS and the barium in your enema.

The US National Academies lists the nucleosynthesis of elements heavier than iron among the 11 great unanswered scientific questions for the 21st century. In the quest to unravel this mystery astronomers at the Australian National University’s Research School of Astronomy & Astrophysics are taking the spectral pulse of around 4000 stars in the phase just before they become planetary nebulae in the nearby Magellanic Clouds. To help them interpret what they observe, astrophysicist Dr Amanda Karakas is using Australia’s most powerful supercomputer to simulate the inner tumult of giant stars, clarifying the innumerable pathways by which the different elements observed by the astronomers may form.(big snip)."

[AzNuggetBob 1,544]

If you cant answer the question dont try to bury it in BS. AzNuggetBob

[AzNuggetBob 1,544]

Im amazzed at how much this question has stirred the pot. AzNuggetBob

[Rimshot 181]

My guess is gold originates in the mantle...possibly coming from the core but not as AU...maybe unknown elements at work.

Here's an interesting link...do you see anything there that could produce gold?

http://www.artinaid.com/2013/04/composition-of-the-earths-mantle/

Edited December 12, 2014 by Rimshot

[jim straight 182]

Howdy everyone... gosh what a truly space deep study... Reno Chris is on the right track (Hey Chris

a Mackay Mining graduate Mike Lucas has recently sent a free-lance article which may answer this

and other questions. Mike is a friend of mine and I suggested he first submit to the ICMJ.) I hope

it is accepted... but who am I

Also Chris since you have access to the Mackay/State Bureau of Mines and can access a copy of

"Shand" (S.J. Shand Professor of Geology and Mineralogy U of S South Africa), he has a chapter

on Meteorites. Chapter XV. The title of his book is ERUPTIVE ROCKS and it was a reference

book for many years at Mackay.

AzNuggetsBob... Yes Sir: your question has really stirred the pot. ... You speak and I listen... jim

[AzNuggetBob 1,544]

Jim you know me well. Lol and I have to say so far its all theory. and if we can't have fun

contemplating new possibilities around the campfire, were not havin fun. Im going with Rim's possibility. Its also my favorite.

AzNuggetBob

Edited December 12, 2014 by AzNuggetBob

[homefire 2,553]

Noble Metals are the products of the Big Bang. When a Sun goes Super Nova they produce and scatter the stuff. Gold was not produced on earth.

[weaver hillbille 488]

If you cant answer the question dont try to bury it in BS. AzNuggetBob

What BS? Not mine, and I was quoting............ Fusion reactions produce the heavy metals. Astronomers have been saying for years that we( and everything else) are made of "stardust."

No doubt it would have sunk into the mantle as the EArth formed.

[Hoser John 1,232]

GOD DID IT TO DRIVE MEN MAD WITH GOLD FEVER...... and it worked-John

[El Dorado 957]

It all came from jewelry stores! Honestly all conversations here are nothing more than theories and no one knows for sure. I lean towards the theory that heavy metalallic elements were formed in the Big Bang and further formed from dying stars that exploded into nebulas. On a second note I think most gold formed here on earth is precipitated from solution.

Future mining of asteroids could answere many questions

Edited December 12, 2014 by El Dorado

[klunker 123]

HJ is pretty darned close. I have developed a new branch of science called "Theogeology" The Planet we live on today is certainly not the same as it was 20.000 years ago- BY DESIGN.

One of these days we will have an asteroid delivered to our doorstep so we can study it at our leisure.

Edited December 12, 2014 by klunker

[GeoJack 702]

I found a meteorite with diamonds in it, surely there are some with gold.

[Rimshot 181]

One thing i noticed while reading thru all this (links) they say the inner core of the earth is solid and mostly iron. How can that be? When the outer core is liquid and super heated way above the melting point of iron.....somethings fishey...haha!!! You know everything is based on theory, less all the facts.

[Mike Furness 1,410]

Pressure Rim Pressure ... Tremendous pressure on the core condenses the hot liquid to a solid ... Just a wild a$$ guess on my part though!

Mike F

[fredmason 1,080]

While watching the idiot-tube yesterday...The question being discussed was where all the water on earth came from so long ago. A scientist found water in a meteorite-just a tiny but liquid drop of interstellar water. From that and other info the theory that all the original water on earth was delivered in meteorites and also Comets ( just a very large meteorite) was developed.

Gold has been found in trace amouts in various meteorites so why not meteorites as a source. We are talking about several billion years of aggregation and one tiny bit at a time.

All matter was brought into being during the BIG BANG ( in the beginning) and has been altered into various elements since then...

Or so I have read

fred

Edited December 12, 2014 by fredmason

[H-2 Charlie 133]

How about a exploding star with matter floting in space until it gets swept into a vortex of orbit and gravitational pull collected and formed a plant ?

[GeoJack 702]

That's the way I understand it as well Charlie. Not large pieces, more very small particles and atoms of AU.

[azblackbird 203]

What blows me away is if precious metals originated from the bombardment of asteroids and space dust, how come we're still not being bombarded yet today? When did it all stop?

[H-2 Charlie 133]

I'm sure its still going on just not in our neighborhood

[GeoJack 702]

Cosmic Dust

Cosmic dust is a substance found throughout the universe. It consists of small grains of material and aggregates of such grains, with a composition that can vary radically, depending on the circumstances in which the dust is formed. This dust often has a crystalline structure, and it has a number of interesting properties that have attracted the attention of astronomers and other researchers who work in space, including chemists, physicists, and theoretical mathematicians.

This substance was originally regarded as nothing more than a nuisance. Clouds of cosmic dust can obscure stars, planets, and other sights of interest in space, and astronomers struggled for centuries to filter it out so that they could make clear observations of various objects in the sky. Ultimately, researchers started to get interested in this extremely abundant substance, and they realized that it actually plays a vital role in many of the processes in the universe, including the formation of stars and planets.

There are a number of different types of cosmic dust. Circumplanetary dust, for example, orbits a planet in a distinctive ring shape; Saturn has quite a collection of circumplanetary dust. Interplanetary dust can be found within specific solar systems, scattered across asteroid belts and orbiting the system's star, for example. Interstellar dust spans the vast distances between the stars of a galaxy, sometimes concentrating into nebulae, while intergalactic dust can be found between galaxies.

[GeoJack 702]

Looks like a Kidney Stone. Ouch!