PRESENTATION
MEN & METALS, the ORIGINS
Egypt - Greece - Rome
The first gold mines were dug in ancient Egypt some 2000 years B.C. in a geographical area stretching from Egypt to Sudan and to Saudi Arabia. In those times, production hardly exceeded 1 ton per annum.
Gold was coveted as a prime transaction value, allowing Egypt to negotiate with frontier civilisations and to become the major diplomatic power in the region. Thus, gold mining was rigorously organized.
The Roman Empire managed to produce some 5 and 10 tons of gold per annum, mostly in Spain, Portugal and North Africa. Gold was particularly prized for its aesthetic qualities and was crafted to manufacture ornaments, jewels and sculptures....
Central & South America
Well before Spanish new world explorations - some 1200 B.C - the Peruvian civilization collected gold from riverbeds and developed sophisticated crafting techniques. They sifted gold of perfect purity, allowing for immediate crafting. Gold was cut into wafer thin sections, ready for gilding and decorating. From 500 to 400 B.C, the ancient south Peruvians refined their technique, obtaining a gold powder that they incorporated in ceramics to make precious artefacts.
The Chimu Empire (150 – 1450 A.D), located in north Peru, was subject to influences originating in Mexico where gold was worked at high temperatures, making it possible to create sophisticated objects of varied composites such as platinum, which was further refined with vegetable acids.
With the Inca invasions, gold took on a major status in society, becoming a symbol of the sun god. The Inca sun capital was almost entirely covered with gold. Gardens were populated with animal and vegetable representations made of silver and gold. To satisfy the need for gold, the Incas developed complex methods of mining well before any other civilisation.
NOWADAYS
Although used in increasingly parsimonious ways, rare or precious metals are needed for certain finished products or manufacturing processes: titanium, cobalt, vanadium, molybdenum for rare metals, gold, silver, platinum, palladium for precious metals.
Waste containing rare and precious metals can be recuperated from printing works, the photo engraving industry, photographic and cinematographic laboratories, radiology clinics, jewellers’, goldsmiths’ and silversmiths’ workshops, and surface plating… for example, significant quantities of rare and precious metals can be recuperated in the electronics industry.
