History & Geology
Gold From Cemented Gravels
November 2011 by Chris Ralph
The truth is that cemented gravels are really not all that complex. There is no mystery of how gold grew there or somehow wormed its way into these solid gravels.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.
Alluvial Paystreaks
The gravels in contact with the bedrock or false bedrock base are often the richest. The same facts apply to the alluvial paystreaks that are formed on gravel bars; the lowest level of the gold-bearing gravel is normally the richest.
Critical Minerals: Tungsten
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.
Gold in Tertiary Gravels
In some places, semi-continuous sections of riverbed can easily be linked in many places to identify the path of the ancient rivers.
ICMJ Visits Grass Valley, California
March 2023March 2023
Critical Minerals: Titanium—Part II
There are both hard rock and beach sand types of titanium deposits, but the hard rock deposits need to be at least 10 percent titanium while the beach sands often are economic with only two or three percent titanium.
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