Alternative gold prospecting methods used by artisanal and small scale miners: A review

Abstract

Artisanal and Small Scale Mining (ASM) is distinctive to Industrial Mining (IM) upon minimal applications of scientific methods and inadequate funding of its geological exploration activities. Revision of scholarly sources indicate that for ASM, gold prospecting is done using visual features that signify zones of mineralization. Such features comprise soil and lithological indicators, geo-biotic indicators, indicator minerals, pathfinder elements and associate minerals. Others include physical features and mine vestiges. Imminent research on ASM rests upon studying scientific inter-relationships of such techniques and suitable mechanisms of financing activities related to geological exploration, an inordinate barrier to smart productivity of ASM.