Ask the Experts

August 2013 by Chris Ralph

Following the Clues

May 2019

It took me awhile before I finally got a nice mellow signal. My nugget turned out to weigh in about two dwt (pennyweight). Over the next few hours, we all picked up a few more nuggets apiece.

Prospecting and Mining Old Mine Sites

December 2016
In some places valuable ores can be found within the waste material of mine dumps, sorted ore piles, and detrital vein matter at the surface. Though many of these old mine sites can be an excellent source of gold, not all are created equal.

Arizona's Youngest...and Oldest Prospector

June 2014
I started with, "Hey, Rusty, tell me about the time..." and that was all it took.

A Model Mining Operation

August 2014
After he excavates the ore down to bedrock, he goes over the bedrock with a metal detector to ensure he didn't leave any gold behind before he backfills the area.

Gold in Quartz

February 2016
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.

Mining for Gemstones and Mineral Specimens

August 2013
It is better in a gem and mineral mining operation that the driller, blaster and mucker be the same person in order to be able to predict placement of the desired mineral enriched pockets.

So Where's The Gold?

August 2011
...we finally got back to this exploration effort. The old works there were up above the old camp, which was very significant in size.

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