Although gold is a finite resource, meaning it cannot be renewed; gold production continues to be profitable to this day. Gold miners use several techniques to produce gold, including gold panning, metal detecting, slicing, dredging and hydraulic mining. While gold panning is by far the simplest way to produce gold, it is often the least fruitful as the amount of gold found via panning is insignificant. By far, the most popular ways to produce gold is through metal detecting and hydraulic mining. Metal detecting can still be done on a small scale, where hydraulic mining is usually reserved for task forces. Very few task forces are dedicated to mining solely for gold - many of those mining for other metals such as silver and copper will often find both large and small bits of gold within their own findings.

Characteristics     History     Refining     Production     Price