Economic Evaluation of Placer Gold Along River Indus From Ghazi to Kund, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan: Implications for Commercial Scale Pilot Plant

Abstract

A detailed study was conducted on Indus river in order to evaluate the economic potential. Samples were collected for geochemical studies from both stream sediments (SS) and heavy mineral concentrates (HMC) along Indus river from Ghazi, Hund, Beka, Alladher and Kund in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. All the samples were analyzed for gold (Au), silver (Ag) and base metals in order to get information about geochemical associations. Panning and sluice methods were applied for the collection of these samples and extraction of visible gold. Results show that HMC have high Au contents, having maximum value of 44.15 g/t and 39.15 g/t in Kund and Beka areas respectively with an average value of 15.18 g/ton and 11.37 g/ton while the SS have average amount of Au as 0.8 g/t. In both these media higher concentration of gold was found in HMC. On the basis of results from both sampling media, the placer gold deposits in Kund, Alladher and Beka are considered highly economical for the commercial exploration of placer gold. Overall, the HMC derived from silt, sand, gravels and cobbles along Indus river indicated potential for placer gold that can be utilized for extraction of gold at commercial scale.

Keywords

• hmc
• ss
• placer gold
• commercial extraction
• kpk