Small Mining Operations
Lode or Placer: What Difference Does It Make?
September 2014 by Keith Bowen
This explains the large difference in particle sizes between placers and hydrothermal lode deposits, but also means that while the mining may be similar in some cases, the sampling and recovery techniques are usually quite different.
The Challenge of Winter Dredging
Dredges actually do pretty well in freezing conditions. There are a few tips you should know, however.
Hard Rock Milling: A Matter of Scale
Most prospectors understand placer mining a lot better than hard rock mining and don’t realize the amount of work that goes into processing different types of hard rock ore.
PLP Update: Back to The 'Swamp' on Behalf of Small Miners
We spent the morning in a meeting with one of the higher-ups at the US Forest Service. I presented him with 412 complaints received from our readers, along with a summary of the complaints to make his job easier.
Modern Mining Reclamation
A study showed that between 1930 and 1980, only a quarter of one percent of the land in the United States was used in all mining applications combined, including surface mining, tailings disposal, underground mines, and all mineral processing facilities.
Hard Rock University: Expensive Hobby or Real Business?
Improper sampling techniques lead to more avoidable heartache than almost anything else in micro mining.
Refractory Gold Processing
After your excitement peaks when you first receive the high gold assay from the vein you just exposed, you ponder how you will extract and sell your gold. You will need to develop a flow sheet for your process to optimize your recovery and minimize your costs and permit requirements.
Wyoming's Billion Dollar Nugget—The Trilogy Ends
Our testing over the past 15 years was to confirm or deny the USGS report completed in 1978. Besides the half acre test dig, we completed many additional test digs by hand and with the backhoe.
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