Alluvial gold: A geological model (Part 1)
Spain plundered, then mined, large amounts of gold, both alluvial and from hard-rock deposits, in the old Aztec and Inca empires in the first half of the 16th century, and Portugal followed up with discoveries in its African and Brazilian colonies. Russia mined gold in the Urals, and then Siberia was opened up for its alluvial gold deposits.