How much gold is found in one ton of mined rock?

How much gold is found in one ton of mined rock?

• A. One gram
• B. One ounce
• C. One kilogram
• D. One pound

Answer: (B)

Gold is present in rock in very tiny amounts, so ore is described by how much gold is in a ton of rock. A common rough rule used in science education is that one ton of mined rock yields about an ounce of gold. That’s roughly 28 grams in about 907 kilograms of rock, which works out to around 30 to 31 parts per million. In other words, the gold content is extremely small per ton, but large volumes of rock are processed to accumulate meaningful amounts of gold. The other options would imply much more or much less gold per ton than what’s typical for most ore, which is why the one-ounce-per-ton figure is the standard estimate used here.

Gold is present in rock in very tiny amounts, so ore is described by how much gold is in a ton of rock. A common rough rule used in science education is that one ton of mined rock yields about an ounce of gold. That’s roughly 28 grams in about 907 kilograms of rock, which works out to around 30 to 31 parts per million. In other words, the gold content is extremely small per ton, but large volumes of rock are processed to accumulate meaningful amounts of gold. The other options would imply much more or much less gold per ton than what’s typical for most ore, which is why the one-ounce-per-ton figure is the standard estimate used here.