Prospecting & Detecting
Diary of a Diamond Prospector
April 2017 by W. Dan Hausel
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.Uncovering the Find of a Lifetime
• The 75-ounce Butte County nugget is the largest found in California since the 156-ounce Mojave nugget in the 1970s...
Man's Best Friend
Adam’s condition had been deteriorating every step of the way. At times, I could only coax him ten or twenty feet before he laid down again. He refused to eat or drink. At this point, I realized we might not get out of the canyon by dark and might need help getting Adam out at all.
Successful Rally for Suction Dredge Miners in Idaho
Representative Paul Shepherd stopped by, and Idaho County Commissioner Jim Chmelik dove with one of the dredgers so he could see for himself that no harm was being done to fish or their habitat.
Still Gold in Humbug, Arizona
Has anyone made it through childhood, or even adulthood, without at least one dream of finding gold or buried treasure? It is the stuff of daydreams—the kindling for the flame of hope. We so long for it that we eagerly accept stories and maps from friends and strangers alike that promise us fame and fortune.
Following Clues to a Hidden Gold Deposit
Many years ago I was in the American Canyon. I remembered a few details about a placer deposit there, so we decided to make a trip down and re-check some of these old workings.
Prospecting on the North Yuba
The research I did for “Gold in the Slate Creek Basin” (September 2011 issue) found me chasing a channel out of the LaPorte territory headed towards the old mining town of Brandy City, California.
Prospecting Underground: Use Caution
In underground placer work, the contact point of the bedrock tunnel and the gravel is a very weak point and always has to be timbered. The bedrock here is thin, fractured, and the gravels loose from many years of oxidizing.
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• Legislative and Regulatory Update
• Ask The Experts: Is an XRF gun useful for prospecting and mineral identification?
• Ask The Experts: Is this deposit worth working?
• Ask The Experts: Can a long range locator probe detect gold in quartz?
• Weathering, Erosion and Placers
• The PIGMI—a DIY Crevice Tool
• The Ups and Downs of Nugget Hunting
• Epithermal Gold and Silver Deposits
• Melman on Gold & Silver
• Mining Stock Quotes and Mineral & Metal Prices
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