Small Mining Operations
A Test Grid Dredged for Gold Values
June 2018 by Bill Bohan
The evaluation must also consider the gold fineness or purity. The purity of the Sugardaddy nuggets is estimated at 850 fineness, meaning 85% is gold (Au), 12% is silver (Ag) with 3% being other gangue alloyed metal.
Cyanide-Free Gold Separation
Some ores—mostly those with a high free gold content—are very amenable to gravity concentration. Well oxidized ores containing coarse gold are usually best for non-cyanide processes. Ores with significant sulfide content may require the...
Dredging Therapy
The big moment finally arrived. With Norm suited up, I pulled the motor to life and felt instantly better. There’s really something relaxing about the sound of a dredge running—they don’t sound like anything else.
Critical Minerals: Titanium
The metal is expensive, not because it is rare but because of the expense to produce and work it. The minerals mined for titanium are all oxides, unlike many base metals that are mostly mined as sulfide minerals.
Gold Deposits of Montana
Historically, Montana has been an important gold producer, in terms of both lodes and placers, and it still produces gold for the prospector today.
Customizing Your Dredge
I am going to suggest dozens of ways you can increase suction power, dredge to greater depths, and improve recovery methods in your sluice box.
Time to Stake Your Own Mining Claim
So let’s dive in and see what I can do to convince you that this is the year you should be out staking your own claims.
Small-Scale Processing of Hard Rock Ores
Depending on the ore and if significant sulfides are present, a hard rock miner may be able to get away with simply using a flux to digest the other minerals that may be present.
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The Bawl Mill
• Legislative and Regulatory Update
• Ask The Experts - Are there different “ferro” products processed out of the ore?
• Ask The Experts - How hot does a furnace need to be to get rid of sulphides?
• Ask The Experts - Will this paystreak be downriver off the trailing edge of bedrock?
• Putting Together A Small Free Gold Mill—Part II
• Chasing Float Gold—The Starry Night Wash
• 2018 National Mining Hall of Fame Inductees
• Michigan House Votes to Give Mining Operations More Flexibility
• Mineral Exploration On The Rise
• 18 Acquitted in Massive Brussels Diamond Heist
• Captain Obvious Strikes Again
• Melman on Gold & Silver
• Mining Stock Quotes and Mineral & Metal Prices
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• California to Allow Suction Dredging in 2019?
