History & Geology
Kennecott Copper Mine, Kennecott, Alaska
October 2017 by Jack Geck
For approximately 30 years, the mines produced good ore, some so rich it was simply sent straight to bagging, bypassing milling and loaded directly on the rail cars.
The Giant King Mine
Most gold-bearing veins in this region are controlled by fractures associated with the Melones Fault, a late Cretaceous structure that is 108 to 127 million years old.
Prospecting for Nickel Deposits
The periodic exploration efforts for nickel during periods of high prices have been sporadic and incomplete. There is a role for the prospector and geologist in searching laterites potentially rich in nickel and mafic igneous bodies that may be rich in nickel.
It Pays to Know Your Bedrock
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.
Yesterday's Gold—Today's Mine
It would seem that we are often indeed destined to repeat history. In terms of gold discovery, even with all the advancements that have been made over the years, it seems we are once again on the cusp of returning to the 1800s world of gold mining. Even as you read this, a new gold rush is taking place in a sleepy little town in South Carolina.
Strategic Metals—Part I
A bill was introduced and passed by the House of Representatives earlier this year that should make the exploration and opening of a mining operation faster and easier.
Strategic Metals—Part II
There are literally thousands of abandoned wasterock and ore dumps that dot the United States that could hold many tones of strategic metals.
Weathering, Erosion and Placers
The big interest to prospectors thinking about the effect of erosion is not what might happen long into the future, but what they might find in the rivers later this summer when the water levels go down.
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• Is It Time for a Change? New Ways to Find More Gold
• MMAC Update
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• Procuring Mine Owner Permission at a Mine Site
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