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Abstract

This paper presents some contributions on the methodology to be carried out to study the gold from an alluvial deposit. The material was taken from a trench at different depth. For each sample, as received, a particle size analysis was performed, and were then concentrated on atray. Two products were obtained: tailings and concentrate. Subsequently, the tenor of the mineral was determined using two methods: fire tests and particle counting, with the help of astereoscope with X20, X36 and X72 magnification. Finally, sieves with contained the greater amount of gold were identified, and the gold tenors obtained by the two techniques were compared. Differences between the two methods were found. For practical purposes and due to the some results showing the same order of magnitude, they are not considered representative for

the gold mining industry.