Enigma of Alluvial Gold Mining in Pre-Contact Peru—The Present Is Key to the Past
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 19570253 |
|---|---|
| Authors | William E Brooks (0000-0002-4872-4775, Society of Economic Geologists, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 11 |
| Issue | 02 |
| Pages | 39-64 |
| Publication date | 2023-01-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Archaeological Discovery (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2331-1959 • E-ISSN: 2331-1967 |
| Publisher | Scientific Research Publishing, Inc. (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.4236/ad.2023.112003 |
| OpenAlex | W4322580978 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 25 |
Peru has produced metals for thousands of years and is the leading gold producer in Latin America today; however, the indigenous mining technology used to produce industrial amounts of gold in pre-contact Peru has thus far been undescribed. Industrial amounts of gold are produced in only two ways: 1) gravity separation/mercury (amalgamation), and 2) cyanide. Therefore, an understanding of present-day gold mining methods is key to understanding gold mining in the past. For example, in 2018, Peru’s large-scale open-pit gold mines produced 123,767 kg of gold using cyanide and 18,875 kg of gold were produced from small-scale alluvial gold mines that used gravity separation and mercury. Since cyanide was not used until the 1880s, mercury amalgamation must be critiqued as the mining technology that produced prodigious amounts of gold from alluvial sources in pre-contact Peru
Alluvium · Archaeology · Cyanide · Geochemistry · Geography · Geomorphology · Gold cyanidation · Gold extraction · Gold mining · Gold ore · Gold rush · Metallurgy · Mining engineering · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Computer Science · Environmental Science · Historical and Cultural Archaeology Studies · Materials Science · Mining and Resource Management · Geology
Distribution of the Elements in Some Major Units of the Earth's Crust
The source, processing and use of red pigment based on hematite and cinnabar at Gramalote, an early Initial Period (1500–1200 cal. B.C.) maritime community, north coast of Peru
Amalgamation and Small-Scale Gold Mining at Ancient Sardis, Turkey
ICP Analyses from the Cinnabar-Mercury Occurrence at Azogues (Loma Guashon), Ecuador
Mineral pigments at Huaca Tacaynamo (Chan Chan, Peru)
Workers' Health and Colonial Mercury Mining at Huancavelica, Peru
Identification, Processing and Use of Red Pigments (Hematite and Cinnabar) in the Valencian Early Neolithic (Spain)
| Citations per year | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |