The bekah or bekan was a smaller unit of weight and currency in Biblical Hebrew. It was often associated with the value of metals like silver and had a value that was a fraction of a shekel.
The term "ton assay" in the context of the United States typically refers to the assay ton, which is a unit of measurement used in the mining industry to express the amount of valuable material contained in a quantity of ore. This measurement is particularly common in the context of precious metals like gold and silver.
An assay ton is defined as 29.1667 grams (or approximately 1.04 ounces) of ore material. Miners and metallurgists use this unit to represent a standardized sample size for the purposes of analyzing the ore's composition and determining the percentage of valuable minerals or metals within it.
The use of the assay ton is essential in assessing the economic viability of mining operations and estimating the potential yield of valuable minerals from a given ore deposit. By analyzing a sample that is equivalent to one assay ton, miners and analysts can extrapolate the likely yield from a larger quantity of ore.
So, when you encounter the term "ton assay US," it generally refers to the assay ton used in the United States for mineral analysis and mining-related calculations.