How To
Ask The Experts
December 2015 by Chris Ralph
• How do I separate silver from lead ore?How to Upgrade Your Pocket Plunger
These three simple upgrades, when taken together, will considerably increase a pocket plunger’s magnetic pull and make it less susceptible to breakage.
The Basics of Exploration Leases and Contracts—Part II
This is the point where you might ask, “What do these types of contracts typically look like and how are they negotiated?” Well, that is the topic of this month’s article.
Pocket Gold
Once a seam is found it can be traced for miles in either direction. While you are tracing a clay line, you are looking for indicators. The indicators that I look for are ironstone, hematite, different color clays intermingled with the clay line, and a very iron-rich, brown gritty soil.
Ask The Experts: How do I identify gold in hard rock that may be mixed with other metals?
Q: Aside from the softness scratch test and other methods of identification, what feedback would you have on identifying gold in hard rock that may be mixed with other metals that affect its color?
Detecting Basics: Lose the Bad Habits Not the Gold
I will make the assumption that when any of you take a detector in your hand and head out prospecting for gold you are probably anticipating finding some gold. That’s the general idea, right?
How to Make a Rock Sled for Dredging
When my “anonymous” friend told me the rock tub was probably a hundred miles from where he safely stashed it, I decided to build another sled and improve on my old design.
Testing Ores for Free Gold
I get a number of questions from people about testing and treating hard rock ores. The simplest way, but also an expensive one, is to just have an assay test done by an independent assay firm. As an alternative...
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• Our Readers Say
• SB 838 and the Salem Witch Hunt
• Small-Scale Hard Rock Production
• Researching Mineralized Areas
• MMAC & PLP Update
• VLF Detector Operating Modes
• Using Geologic Maps
• Canadian Company Recovers 1,111-Carat Diamond
• Lost Sally's Gold
• Time to File Claims in Southern California
• Colorado Disputes Key Part of EPA Mine Report
• Picking Our Way Through Bedrock
• Mining Stock Quotes and Mineral & Metal Prices
• Melman on Gold & Silver
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• What Is Incidental Fallback?







