700 Tons of Gold Ore Disappears In Pacific, Contact With Transport Ship Lost

A Russian transport ship with seven crew members and carrying 700 tons of gold ore from a mine near the port town of Neran to a processing facility on Feklistov Island has disappeared in stormy seas on Russia’s Pacific east coast. According to a report via StanDeyo.com, the seven person crew embarked on a standard transportation route for the ore and hasn’t been heard from since several distress calls were received on Sunday.

A company spokesperson for Russia’s Polymetal declined to comment when asked about the value of the gold.

Gold ore is a raw material that must be processed using a number of methods in order to extract pure gold. The amount of pure gold in a ton depends on the grade of the ore, with some mines in gold-rich South Africa producing upwards of 9 grams (0.3 ounces) of gold for each ton of ore – or a value of approximately $510 per ton at current prices.

Seven hundred tons of such ore would be worth approximately $350,000.

In South Africa, high grade ore is usually extracted from deep mines that may go as far as 12,000 feet below the surface. An open-pit mine produces significantly less pure gold, usually in the area of 1 – 3 grams per ton.

It’s not known what type of extraction process is used by Polymetal.

The Russian ore would probably grade lower than that of South Africa, likely putting the value of pure gold somewhere around $50,000 to $200,000.

Pictured: Gold Ore – Cripple Creek, Colorado