History & Geology
Associated Gold Placers of the Comstock
November 2015 by Alex Dolbeare
What many people don’t realize is that the Comstock Lode produced over 8,000,000 ounces of gold…
Placer Gold Deposits of New Mexico
While a large number of locations have yielded some placer gold, most of the state’s placer production has come from a few productive districts.
Potholes and Other Bedrock Traps
Potholes in bedrock can trap placer minerals and even be glory holes. They are, at least, interesting geologic phenomena, and at best, a treasure trove of gold nuggets.
Calcite and Limestone
The other distinguishing feature of calcite has to do with its chemistry. Geologists sometimes take a small bottle of dilute hydrochloric acid out into the field with them because calcite reacts with acids to make a bubbly foam.
Mining Pegmatite Deposits
With successively lower temperatures as the water mixture cools, new sets of minerals are formed and many of those stable at a higher degree of heat became subject to alteration as the temperature progressively moved lower.
The Basics of Geophysical Exploration
In developing a mineral property or mining claims, one of the first goals is to identify and quantify valuable deposits. The classic method of doing this is by drilling holes into the ground to sample what is below the surface. The problem is that one or two holes usually are not going to tell you a whole lot...
What About Palladium?
Palladium may well be an underexplored element and therefore an opportunity for prospectors and geologists. This is because they are often less than obvious and other than the native metals, a chemical analysis of samples is required to identify PGM-enriched rocks.
Green Valley Gold District, Payson, Arizona
Most gold-bearing quartz veins found in the district were fracture fillings in faults enclosed by crushed quartz zones along their margins. Since the host rocks were often extensively weathered, portions of the veins stood out as positive, resistant outcrops. The gold-bearing veins ranged from a few inches wide to the vein at the Gowan mine that was as much as 12 feet wide.
Subscription Required:
The Bawl Mill
• Ask The Experts
• Ask The Experts
• Our Readers Say
• Gold in Tertiary Gravels
• Detecting Clay Seams
• All About Minerals
• MMAC & PLP Update
• Feinstein Pushes for Million-Acre Land Grab
• Prospecting for Liberated Gold
• The Snapshot
• Melman on Gold & Silver
• Mining Stock Quotes and Mineral & Metal Prices
