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Happy Birthday, ICMJ!
September 2020 by Scott Harn
You’ll note the text on the cover now says “Celebrating Our 90th Year.” Yes, we are in our 90th year of publication!
A lot has changed since our gold and black cardstock cover bearing the title California Mining Journal. Through the years, we’ve tried to balance our content to include all levels of experience, from first-time prospectors up to small operations. We’ve sought to provide consistent, quality articles in every issue, and we very much appreciate the feedback and compliments from you, our readers. It’s also been a challenge to adapt to the younger, Internet-based generation, but we now have over 20 years’ worth of articles online along with downloadable 3D issues for the past six years at www.icmj.com. We also have Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts. Yes, we are hip 90 year olds!
But we’ve noted that the majority of our readers still prefer to carry a print copy with them around the house or out at their mining site, though there is an increasing crowd of paperless online-only readers too.
To all our readers, we are grateful and we look forward to reaching 100 with your continued support.
The Bawl Mill
• Protesters trash the place
• IRS can't keep a secret
• Make way for minimum wage
An Early Christmas Gift
The larger nuggets were all old channel gold, smooth and water-worn. I guessed that a few of them would push a bit under one-half-ounce apiece.
The Heavy Minerals in Your Concentrates
The fact that mineral deposits can contribute specific types of heavy minerals is why the analysis of the heavy mineral concentrates in the streams of an area can be an important prospecting technique for finding undiscovered mineral deposits.
Placer Mining in Canada's Yukon Territory
Frank Taylor’s family has been mining in the same area of the Yukon Territory since 1935. He’s been working his current placer operation on Duncan Creek near Mayo since 1975.
Ask the Experts—How do I remove gold from black sands?
Q: I’m a fairly new dredger. I was told that the black sands contain fine gold that is tough to see and recover, so I have been saving the black sands when I do my clean up. What method should I use to get the gold out?
Why Is The Gold On Bedrock—Or Why Is It Not?
Gold on the bedrock is a good rule of thumb, but not one that is 100 percent effective. There are plenty of exceptions. So, how does a prospector recognize those exceptions?
The "Rip-Roaring" Flood That Washed Out Mazuma, Nevada
Okay, now for the story of not only the Mazuma flash-flood, but also of early day happenings in the surrounding Seven Troughs area as related to me by Gloria’s (late) grandmother, Gommie. At this time (1953-1954) Gommie was in her late 60s and often reminisced regarding her early life in Iowa as a schoolteacher...
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The Bawl Mill
• Ask The Experts - What is the difference between heavy and light rare earth elements?
• Ask The Experts - What are the tax implications for partners on a claim?
• Ask The Experts - What should my plan be for testing quartz for gold in North Carolina?
• Ask The Experts - Did gold deposits come from space or were they created underground?
• Ask The Experts - Is a shaker table going to work on my flour material?
• Subtle and Not So Subtle Dangers of Hard Rock Mining
• How Should I Work This Prospect?
• Tips and Tricks: Preparing Your Dredge Engine for Storage
• Fluorescent Mineral Prospecting
• More Tips on How to Find Gold with A Detector
• What Do You Need For A Successful Micro-Scale Mine?
• Using Favorable Rock Types to Find More Gold
• Gold Prospecting for Better or Worse: Of Mice and Men
• Discovering New Territory
• Melman on Gold & Silver
• Mining Stock Quotes and Mineral & Metal Prices
