Prospecting & Detecting
It Pays to Know Your Bedrock
November 2017 by Michael Matus
On our last trip, we brought ropes and went down the first waterfall forty vertical feet, only to be confronted by a second, sixty-foot-high, overhanging waterfall that emptied into a slot canyon.
To Foam or Not to Foam
George was considering filling his dredge floats with closed-cell foam, ensuring that there would be no area available within each float for flooding.
Extracting & Smelting Your Gold
Unfortunately, not all the gold that we prospectors find is pretty, or appealing to the eyes. They are not all nice, bright, shiny nuggets with lots of character that carry high collector value.
Gold in Quartz
Because quartz and gold may be deposited together across a considerable range of temperatures, not all quartz veins are the same, and there are several different types of gold-quartz deposits.
Revisiting the Rocker Box
The first location we worked was a small, dry ravine cutting through many mineralized zones in an area where some hard rock mining had taken place in the past.
Some Tips and Tricks for Dredgers: Determining Pulley Size and Belt Length
If Epd is larger, then the compressor will be spinning faster than the manufacturer’s maximum specified RPM and might destroy itself. If this happens, then the compressor again might not produce enough air to support a diver. Neither is a desired outcome.
Following the Clues
It took me awhile before I finally got a nice mellow signal. My nugget turned out to weigh in about two dwt (pennyweight). Over the next few hours, we all picked up a few more nuggets apiece.
Gold Too Big to Carry
There is a unique anticipation that comes with waking in gold country. The long early morning rays bring warmth after a cold night. Restless nights allow thoughts of gold hidden in the ground for too long.
Subscription Required:
The Bawl Mill
• Legislative and Regulatory Update
• Ask The Experts - How do I work this glacial deposit?
• Ask The Experts - How do I best recover gold in pyrite?
• BLM Cancels 10-Million-Acre Sage Grouse Mineral Withdrawal
• Take it to Bedrock
• The Beatty Mining District of Nevada
• Flood Plain Gold Deposits—What Are They Really?
• Exploring Iron Oxide Copper Gold Deposits
• Conrey Dredge No. 4
• Melman on Gold & Silver
• Mining Stock Quotes and Mineral & Metal Prices
Free:
Over the Divide: Nancy Glenn; Sondra (Adelson) Bernzweig