Critical Minerals: Tungsten

July 2017 by Chris Ralph

Because tungsten minerals are heavy, exploration can be done using stream sediment samples. Prospectors looking for gold have found scheelite or wolframite in their placer concentrates, and in some cases this has led them to make important tungsten finds.

The Birimian Greenstone Belts of West Africa

June 2013
A few years ago I had a tremendous opportunity to visit Australia and hunt for gold there. The geology of the gold deposits there was somewhat different from what I was used to here in the US. I learned a lot about greenstone belt gold deposits while prospecting them in person, and it was an amazing trip.

The Paragenesis of Gold & Silver Deposits

March 2015
…if you are game for digging in and learning more about the intricate details of how gold deposits form, then let’s jump right in.

The Rush to Treasure Hill

November 2012
There were some exceptional times in the far-flung history of the West. Rich finds of minerals that set men’s souls ablaze. From the rich gold fields of California, men who arrived too late to find riches went searching in every direction. The trail that we will follow leads east, past the shining silver district of the Comstock Lode.

Gold Deposits of Montana

March 2013
Historically, Montana has been an important gold producer, in terms of both lodes and placers, and it still produces gold for the prospector today.

Enrichment of Mineral Deposits by Weathering—Part I

March 2016

The exact minerals formed in the concentrated supergene deposits depends much on the type of country rock around the deposit and the chemistry of the deposit itself, but if conditions are right, this process will form some rich patches of bonanza ore, in some places valued at thousands of dollars to the ton.

Gold Depositiion and Gradients of Placer Streams—Part II

July 2012
The steeper the gradient is, the more potential erosive power to move gold and other bedload sediments, and the more power to remove obstacles to flow.

Fabulous Florence—The Golden Town of Idaho

May 2012
In September 1861, on a round-about prospecting journey homeward, five California gold miners discovered gold in the area now called Florence. While watering the horses, one of the men noticed a golden color on a piece of slate bedrock in the stream...

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