Quartz/Quartz Mining
A common silica mineral found
in all kinds of rocks and mineral veins and in
many primary gold
deposits. Such deposits were formed when siliceous liquids bearing gold were
forced up through fissures in the earth’s crust, where they cooled to form lodes
or veins. Auriferous
quartz deposits account for a significant number of mining operations, particularly
in Canada. In South Africa, gold is extracted
from a quartz-pebble conglomerate of the
Witwatersrand Basin.