Скачайте изображение (превью) выбрав качество

320x180 480x360 640x480 1280x720

#antimony #gold #goldprospecting
Victoria is world-famous for its gold rush, but hidden beneath the quartz reefs of the Melbourne Zone (Selwyn Block) lies an element that miners never asked for—antimony. This toxic metalloid, found primarily in the mineral stibnite (Sb₂S₃), contaminates the gold-bearing veins, making extraction and refining far more complicated than in most goldfields around the world. While gold is sought after for its purity and malleability, antimony alloys with it, making it brittle and difficult to work with. The same acids used to dissolve gold also dissolve antimony, turning chemical refining into a nightmare. Smelting only makes things worse, as antimony-rich ore releases toxic fumes, including antimony trioxide (Sb₂O₃) and sulfur dioxide (SO₂), which are hazardous to human health. This unique geological contamination is what sets Victoria’s gold apart from other deposits worldwide—but why is antimony so enriched in this region?

To understand the presence of antimony in Victoria, we must go back 1.6 billion years to the formation of the Selwyn Block, an ancient fragment of continental crust that would eventually become the foundation beneath Melbourne and Tasmania. This microcontinent drifted across the Earth’s surface for over a billion years before colliding with Victoria around 500 million years ago, during the Cambrian period. The impact of this collision was immense, creating deep-seated faults and fractures that would later serve as pathways for mineral-rich hydrothermal fluids. Over millions of years, as tectonic forces continued to shape the region, these fluids transported gold, antimony, and other metals from deep within the Earth's crust, depositing them in quartz veins across what is now the Melbourne Zone. While gold mineralization is relatively common in orogenic belts worldwide, Victoria’s unusual concentration of antimony is a geological anomaly, one tied directly to the ancient Selwyn Block and the tectonic history that shaped it.

For early miners, antimony was more than just an inconvenience—it was an unseen contaminant that complicated every stage of gold processing. Many unknowingly inhaled antimony-laden dust while crushing ore or suffered exposure to toxic fumes while smelting stibnite-rich material. Unlike common gold ores, which are relatively easy to refine, gold from Victoria’s reefs required additional metallurgical treatment to separate it from the stubborn grip of antimony. This difficulty remains even today, as modern refining techniques still struggle with the chemical affinity between gold and antimony, making recovery more expensive and less efficient than in purer goldfields. Beyond its impact on refining, the legacy of antimony mining has left a lasting mark on the region, with contaminated tailings, abandoned mine sites, and environmental concerns that persist long after the gold rush ended.

Despite its reputation as a valuable mineral in some industries, antimony remains a frustrating and hazardous contaminant in Victoria’s goldfields. Unlike other orogenic belts where gold is relatively pure, the Melbourne Zone’s gold is tainted, forcing miners—both past and present—to battle with an element that refuses to be ignored. Whether through its geological origins, its refining challenges, or its toxic environmental impact, antimony is an unavoidable part of Victoria’s mining history. The miners of the gold rush may not have known what they were dealing with, but today, we understand its true nature—a hidden contaminant woven into the very fabric of Victoria’s richest goldfields.

Thank you so much for watching!
If you are not in a position to donate, I totally understand! The biggest supporting factor that you engage in is to watch our videos all the way to the end (very important for helping us rank) and to share them around so please consider doing this so that Youtube recommends our channel more.

If you are in a position to support our channel on Youtube Membership or by joining our Patreon, the link to all of this can be found below:

🎥 If you would like to support this channel, consider joining our Patreon:


👉 You can also click the "join" button to join our Youtube channel's membership. Every contribution helps to create more videos.

Join this channel to get access to perks:



00:00-00:56- Introduction To The Poisonous Contaminant
00:57-01:50- A Brief Geological Context
01:51-03:16- Antimony: The Hidden Poison
03:17-03:54- The Dangers of Antimony & Stibnite
03:55-05:14- The Trouble of Refining Antimony Laden Ore
05:15-05:30- Escaping Antimony & Where It Was Mined
05:31-08:23- Why Is The Melbourne Zone So Enriched in Antimony?
08:24- 09:50- The Antimony Legacy
09:51-10:11- Patreon and Youtube Member Thank You!

Чтобы скачать видео "The Hidden POISON in Melbourne's Goldfields" передвинте ползунок вправо