History & Geology
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.
Polymetallic Skarn Deposits
Polymetallic skarn deposits are an interesting class of deposits that can contain a number of different types of metals.
Over the Divide: John A. Miscovich
Mining “giant” John A. Miscovich died August 22, 2014, at the age of 96. He was the well-known inventor of the “Intelligiant” water cannon.
It Pays to Know Your Bedrock
On our last trip, we brought ropes and went down the first waterfall forty vertical feet, only to be confronted by a second, sixty-foot-high, overhanging waterfall that emptied into a slot canyon.
Gold Ores of the Delamar District, Nevada
Even as late as 1906, Delamar was second only to Tonopah and Goldfield in production outshining many better known areas. Since the first discoveries, more than 700,000 ounces of gold have been produced from the mines here.
Mass Wasting & Gold Deposits
Not all of these slides and debris flows will produce results, but if you search for these while prospecting in your gold producing areas, then you can increase your odds of finding new gold.
Prospector's Guide to Rock Breaking and Blasting
The holes were overloaded with explosives, but I didn’t know it. I was just a green mining engineer fresh out of school and told to watch as the experienced miners set the charge.
Diary of a Diamond Prospector
I couldn’t wait to get started. With no field budget, an assay budget of $100/year, a 1975-Ford Bronco that was a road hazard, a gas card, a topo map and full support of the director, I headed to the State Line district near Tie Siding along US Highway 287 to begin mapping kimberlite.
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