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.
Researching Mineralized Areas
There are a load of ways to do research, and I’m going to talk about how I do it—maybe you’ll get some ideas that will work for you, too.
All About Minerals
There are several common ways that new mineral crystals form and grow. Perhaps the simplest is when minerals form through the cooling of molten rock and the atoms bond together into mineral crystals.
Arizona's Vulture Gold Mine and Lost Dutchman
When prospectors and treasure hunters talk of gold in Arizona, it is the Lost Dutchman or Vulture mine they usually think of. The Lost Dutchman gold mine is just that—a myth chalked full of holes that has been embellished over time as any good legend should be.
PGMs in the United States
Until just recently, platinum-group metals (PGMs), especially palladium, had been holding their own on the market. But, Russia has now resumed shipments and it has brought prices down.
Gold: Is It Everywhere?
Gold, on the other hand, is super rare, and is one of the rarest elements in the earth’s crust. It averages only 0.000004 percent of the earth’s surface. That is four parts in a billion.
Critical Metals: Lithium
Prospecting for lithium deposits can take a number of different directions, because this metal can be extracted from a variety of geologically differnet sources.
Gold Deposits of Montana
Historically, Montana has been an important gold producer, in terms of both lodes and placers, and it still produces gold for the prospector today.
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