All Articles
BLM Runs Check on Assay Services
May 2003 by Scott Harn
Most laboratories involved were sent 4 samples containing known values of gold, silver, platinum, and palladium, and 2 samples that were complex blanks. Prices charged for assay services varied from $60, for fire assays, to $2,250 for a “tin fusion method.” In our review of the report, price did not seem to be reflected as a determining factor for accuracy. In some cases, a lower cost for service provided a more accurate assay.
The results of assays conducted are compiled in a 34-page report, including 16 pages detailing the reasons for and methods used in the study, and 18 pages of results. The volume of the report does not allow for inclusion in this publication, but ICMJ’s Prospecting and Mining Journal has made the entire document available free on our web site:
Study preface (.pdf file) 0.8MB
Study results (.pdf file) 1.0MB
Many of the results published were well within acceptable limits, but some were so far out in “left field” that utilization could be disastrous. Substantial quantities of precious metals were reported in some blanks. Some samples that contained valuable quantities of precious metals were reported as “none detected.” As a result of this report, several assay labs were barred from advertising in our publication.
BLM should be applauded for conducting this badly needed study, and hopefully they will continue this public service. The resulting report should be a valuable tool as a validation for assay services.
Millsite Opinion Overturned!
Interior Secretary Gale Norton approved the reversal of controversial millsite restrictions that were put in place by the Clinton administration.
State May Re-Examine Plans on Dredge Use Near Hope
The State Division of Governmental Coordination said it should have been asked to review the project a year ago to make sure the mine complies with the Alaska Coastal Zone Management Plan.
The Fairbanks Goldfields
It was once said that the Fairbanks Mining District would probably not be much of a producer. The impact of this goldfield on the mining world of the north did not start with a bang. Rather, the participants of this gold rush more or less...
Platinum—Group Metals
by Henry E. Hilliard
Excerpted from USGS "1998 Annual Review"
Sunshine Mine is Up and Running Again
Sterling Mining Company has resumed initial production at the Sunshine Mine in Idaho. The company anticipates a steady increase in production over the next three years until an average daily processing rate of 1,000 tons per day is achieved.
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.
Gold in the Rattlesnake Hills
The Rattlesnake Hills (RSH) in central Wyoming had been overlooked for gold, even though it had all of the earmarks of being a major gold district.
Subscription Required:
The Ball Mill
• Our Readers Say
• WMD Raffle Raises Funds for Lawsuit
• Gold in Alabama
• From the Editor
• Yukon Placer Miners Fighting Extreme Discharge Limits
• Picks & Pans: Red Beryl Mining—Beaver County, Utah
• The Investigation
• A Gold Detector Sitting in a Closet Only Finds Dust—A Potpourri of Detector Tips
• Central Coast Ranges
• Poll: Montana in Favor of Repealing Anti-Mining Initiative
• Platinum in Laccoliths
• Mining Stock Quotes and Mineral & Metal Prices
• Looking Back
• Melman on Gold & Silver
