September 2017 LSAT Section 1 Question 15

A scientific team compared gold samples from several ancient artifacts with gold samples from an ancient mine in west...

tomgbean on December 24, 2019

Is the gold deposit different than the gold mine? I thought gold mines were meant to tap into deposits? That is why I didn't even consider this answer choice, because it strengthened.

Create a free account to read and take part in forum discussions.

Already have an account? log in

Irina on December 25, 2019

@tomgbean,

You are correct, the mine taps into a deposit. The reason (A) weakens the argument because it demonstrates that the deposit also supplied nearby riverbeds with gold, meaning gold with the same trace-element ratio was found in nearby riverbeds as well as the ancient mine, and the artifacts could have been made from gold obtained from the riverbed rather than the mine.