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.
Prospecting for Diamonds in Kimberlite
Kimberlite is very difficult for geologists to find, let alone prospectors and rock hounds. This is because kimberlite is rarely exposed on the surface and few people know how to identify the rock.
Scams, Scammers and Schemes
Gold mining has received many black eyes from many scams, scammers and schemes throughout the years. Unscrupulous scammers have swindled naive people for millions of dollars in the past and will, no doubt, continue into the future.
Understanding Rock Formations: Petrology for Prospectors
There are times when being able to recognize a type of rock can make you a much more successful prospector.
Residual Placers: An Often Overlooked Gold Source
Because the forces of erosion and gravity tend to carry lighter materials like quartz away more easily, the heavy minerals like gold or silver will tend to be concentrated in the general area around the vein outcrop. These concentrations are what make residual placers so attractive.
Time to Stake Your Own Mining Claim
So let’s dive in and see what I can do to convince you that this is the year you should be out staking your own claims.
Understanding Skim Bar Placers
Perhaps the most notable thing about skim placers is that they form on the top surface of gravel bars, as opposed to coarser gold placers where the weight of the gold particles allows the gold to settle down on or near bedrock.
SS Central America Gives Up Millions in Gold Rush Era Gold
A treasure-seeking young man whose name will forever remain anonymous made the months-long journey either over land or by sailing ship to California after word spread about the gold strike in 1849.
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The Bawl Mill
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• Hard Rock 101: Blasting With Kinepak Explosives
• Ancestral Yuba River Placer Gold Deposits
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• National Forest Closures in California
• Melman on Gold & Silver
• Mining Stock Quotes and Mineral & Metal Prices
