Small Mining Operations
Critical Minerals Update
March 2022 by Chris Ralph
The critical metals are essential to the modern lives we lead. The prices of critical metals are moving up even faster than government published rates of inflation, with little sign of slowing down.
A Few Methods for Sampling Hardrock Deposits

Trip to “The Swamp” on Behalf of Small Miners
Besides the EPA issue, our major priority is to work on the proposed amendment to the National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act (S 145), a bill proposed in the Senate by US Senator Dean Heller (R-Nevada).
The Mysterious Telluride Minerals
…let’s dive in and take a closer look at these rich gold and silver-bearing minerals to find out what they are, where they form, and how to identify them.
Resurrecting an Old Hard Rock Mine—Setting Up the Millsite
One of the first things we did while looking at buying the equipment was figuring out how it would dovetail into the milling process we already had in mind.
Now Is The Time For Exploration
I’ve been following the precious metals for decades, and I haven’t seen a move this powerful in many years.
Mining for Gold and Sapphires in Montana
Fascinated by the sapphires—and the gold that occured with them—he was soon buying parcels of property and setting up his own commercial-scale gravel processing plants.
How to Use BLM’s New Mineral and Land Records System
This new map-based tool is far superior to the old version with lots of potential layers and information that a prospector can use in research.
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The Bawl Mill
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• Finding Gold With A Simple Sluice Box
• Detecting A Trashy Area
• Winter Prospecting
• Are You Being Followed?
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• Butte County: Another Mother Lode Favorite
• Welcome to Nothing
• Melman on Gold & Silver
• Mining Stock Quotes and Mineral & Metal Prices
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Legislative and Regulatory Update
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