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November 2012 by Chris Ralph
How do I set up a small placer operation?Gold in Quartz
Because quartz and gold may be deposited together across a considerable range of temperatures, not all quartz veins are the same, and there are several different types of gold-quartz deposits.
What Have You Got to Lose?
It’s accepted knowledge that wet methods will recover more fine gold than dry methods and processing the gravel as a whole will get more gold than only using a metal detector. The question is how much more?
Hard Rock University: Expensive Hobby or Real Business?
Improper sampling techniques lead to more avoidable heartache than almost anything else in micro mining.
A Few Pointers About Cracks and Crevices
Because these crevices catch and hold gold so well, it's worthwhile to learn how they form, which ones are good for catching gold and which ones are not.
Understanding Skim Bar Placers
Perhaps the most notable thing about skim placers is that they form on the top surface of gravel bars, as opposed to coarser gold placers where the weight of the gold particles allows the gold to settle down on or near bedrock.
Wilfley Tables—Repair, Rebuild & Set Up
I researched the Internet and found a number of table makers, but technology has changed in the last 25 years. No one could sell me a kit for a new deck with wooden riffles...
Attention to Detail - Part II
Ditches almost always started in the high country and contoured the mountainsides, making a long drop, usually many miles away, to the goldfields. There are ditches in Trinity County that originate at seven and eight thousand feet in the Trinity Alps that carried water almost thirty miles.
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The Bawl Mill
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• The Portable XRF Gun
• Gold Dredging on Oregon's South Umpqua
• The Struggle to Reopen Alaska's Largest Gold Mine
• Prospecting With a Detector: Lessons Learned
• The Rush to Treasure Hill
• Tips on Crevicing for Gold
• Using Google Earth and Other Maps
• Proper Assaying of Placer Samples
• Mining, Health Care & Taxes
• Melman on Gold & Silver
• Mining Stock Quotes and Mineral & Metal Prices
