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Scientists May Have Just Figured Out How to Make Gold Nuggets
Amaze Lab
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1 year ago
Alchemists and scientists alike have long sought to figure out exactly how gold forms beneath the Earth’s crust. Now they have new data that challenges pretty much everything we thought we knew about how veins of the precious metal come into being.
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00:00
Alchemists and scientists alike have long sought to figure out exactly how gold forms
00:07
beneath the Earth's crust.
00:09
And while the latter are likely closer to figuring it out, researchers now say they
00:12
have new data that challenges pretty much everything we thought we knew about how veins
00:16
of the precious metal come into being.
00:18
Gold is so rare because it doesn't dissolve very easily in water, meaning it's less
00:22
likely to collect in one particular spot and form large nuggets, which is why large gold
00:26
veins have baffled scientists for ages.
00:29
But now they say quartz electrical voltage during seismic activity might be the cause.
00:34
Gold veins are often found amongst quartz, which is made of silicon dioxide.
00:38
When earthquakes occur, it causes stress on the quartz, which then produces an electric
00:42
voltage.
00:43
The researchers say that while the quartz is an insulating material, the gold that is
00:46
accumulating nearby is a conductor, and that charge might not only jump to the gold, it
00:51
could also cause an electrochemical reaction that pulls the gold out of a solution and
00:56
into one particular area over time.
00:58
They have now tested this theory in a lab, causing micrometer-sized gold grains to form
01:03
out of a solution after just an hour of man-made tremors.
01:06
They add that once an accumulation occurs, it increases the chances of more gold depositing,
01:11
as the gold then behaves like another catalyst for further reactions.
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