Prospecting & Detecting
It's Not Always El Dorado
November 2020 by Ray Mills
This was “pocket” country. All around were “pockets” that had been hand dug by old and new miners.
Mom Finds 3.72-Carat Yellow Diamond
“Much of the ground where Ms. Hollingshead found her diamond is made of unweathered volcanic rock. When it rains, flowing runoff often leaves loose gravel, and sometimes diamonds, on the surface in these areas.”
Prospecting for Silver Deposits
In some ways, silver is the forgotten precious metal because it straddles both the world of precious metals and jewelry, while having many important industrial applications like a base metal. The price of silver reflects both the precious metal investment demand as well as the industrial demand.
Critical Minerals: Titanium
The metal is expensive, not because it is rare but because of the expense to produce and work it. The minerals mined for titanium are all oxides, unlike many base metals that are mostly mined as sulfide minerals.
The PIGMI—a DIY Crevice Tool
I’ve had great success using it to gather gold from crevices. I’d like to share the design with all of you gold miners reading this article and hope that you get as much satisfaction building and using it as I did.
My First Carolina Nugget
On my weekends off I spent many hours dredging the Second Broad River from Cane Creek Road up to the headwaters. I used a three-inch dredge with air and graduated to a five-inch with air.
Selenium, Mercury and Suction Dredging—Studies Contradict CA State Water Resources Board
Federal and state regulatory agencies often cite mercury and methyl mercury in our waterways as a major factor for further restrictions on placer mining, and on suction gold dredge mining, in particular. However, these regulatory agencies are minimizing selenium and its neutralizing effects.
All About Quartz—Part I
One of the first minerals most prospectors learn to recognize is quartz, because, in the right circumstances, it can be an excellent indicator mineral for prospectors. Quartz is common, easy to identify, and is often associated with gold and other valuable metal deposits.
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The Bawl Mill
• Ask The Experts - A metal detector for Ghana?
• Ask The Experts - Is a detector a good return on investment?
• Ask The Experts - Concern that gold and silver aren’t considered critical?
• Exploration Rush at Tonopah, Nevada
• Prospecting Old Mine Dumps With A Drone
• Hard Rock 101: Blasting With Kinepak Explosives
• Ancestral Yuba River Placer Gold Deposits
• Gold Prospecting for Better or Worse: Coyote Poop Gold
• National Forest Closures in California
• Melman on Gold & Silver
• Mining Stock Quotes and Mineral & Metal Prices
