Published on February 7, 2018
Midas Gold Idaho wants to keep the community informed about the work we are doing at the Stibnite Gold Project site. The Ask Midas blog series gives the experts in our company a chance to answer some of the community’s most frequently asked questions and help clear up any misconceptions around the project.
As a geologist, I study the Earth, which is made up of rock-forming minerals. That is why this week, I am very excited to tell you more about what minerals we hope to produce once the Stibnite Gold Project goes into production.
What minerals is Midas Gold Idaho planning to mine?
The Stibnite Gold Project site has a rich mineral history. Miners first came to the site looking for gold more than a century ago and instead found rich antimony-silver veins. Over the years, miners focused on gold, and later discovered tungsten in the form of the mineral scheelite. Once our project goes into production, we will produce gold and antimony, plus some silver. Gold at Stibnite is microscopic and occurs in the mineral pyrite – also known as fool’s gold. The antimony and silver occur primarily in the mineral stibnite, from which the area gets it’s name. Once the Stibnite Gold Project goes into production, we plan to concentrate the pyrite and stibnite minerals and then process them to extract the gold, silver and antimony.
Gold and antimony have many uses in today’s world. While most people only think about gold’s uses in jewelry, it has many uses in electronics, like computer chips and iPhones, because it is a good conductor of electricity and it does not corrode; as well as many other uses, too numerous to discuss here. Antimony is used as a metal strengthener which makes it an important element in bullets, batteries and other alloys. It is also widely used as a flame retardant in furniture, clothing, computers, cell phones, insulation around copper wire and many other products.
If you have a question you would like us to answer, please email it to [email protected].
