How To
How to Melt Your Own Gold
March 2012 by Chris Ralph

Ask The Experts
• How small should I crush my hard rock ore?
Explosives and Mining

Mining Claims—What to Know Before You File
During the initial assessment year (the year of location), the claim maintenance fee must be paid at the time the notice of location is filed with the Bureau of Land Management. Failure to pay the claim maintenance fee will void the claim.
Hunting for Hardrock: The Basics

The Fine Art of Panning Heavy Sands
The fine art of panning heavy sands requires a measure of patience. If you enjoy panning gold, you ought to enjoy this too, once you get the hang of it.
Crumb Hunting With A VLF Detector
Chris got a nice target signal on the edge of rising bedrock, but still in a low, but washed area. After breaking up the bedrock, he recovered several pieces of gold amounting to almost three pennyweight.
Putting Together A Small Free Gold Mill
Most small-scale miners want to know how they can set up a system much more cheaply. The difficulty is in the balance of putting together a decent small-scale system at a reasonable cost.
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The Bawl Mill
• Ask the Experts: Set up a small portable operation or send the ore to a custom mill?
• Ask the Experts: Who manufactures the diagonal vibrating table?
• Ask the Experts: Do "corners" need to be in place on the ground for a claim to be valid?
• Ask the Experts: Tantalite in an African nation -- is it worth pursuing?
• Legislative and Regulatory Update
• Following Clues to a Hidden Gold Deposit
• Judge Tosses Lawsuit Against Tucson-Area Mine
• Salted Mining Properties—How to Properly Evaluate a Claim
• Fine Gold Panning Without Using Mercury
• Australia Produces World's Largest Gold Coin
• Fells Flat Gold
• Colorado Considers Gold & Silver Currency
• Melman on Gold & Silver
• Mining Stock Quotes and Mineral & Metal Prices
Free:
Revised Dredge Regulations Published for California—Pure Garbage
• Xmet Aims for One Million Ounces