Metal Detecting Old Hard Rock Mine Dumps

May 2018 by Chris Ralph

The type of mine dump that is best for metal detecting are the ones that consist of mixed sizes of rock and are located near some sort of excavation, commonly a shaft or adit. Sometimes the piles located along a trench dug by the miners can be productive as well.

Cold Alaskan Gold—Part I

September 2012
Crowds may be great for football games or the Fourth of July, but not for prospecting. So, this summer, while thousands of gold seekers were heading to the coast of Alaska, I headed to a remote part of the Interior.

Prospecting for Pegmatites

July 2015

…in some cases pegmatites have produced individual mineral crystals that are enormous, attaining lengths of over 40 feet long, and many of the world’s largest mineral crystals are examples that were found within pegmatite deposits.

Early Summer Mining in Wyoming

August 2017

Old tailing piles extend for miles. There was still plenty of water flowing here, so WPA members set up highbankers at several settling ponds.

Hard Rock Milling: A Matter of Scale

April 2013
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.

Ask the Experts

May 2014
Setting up a gravity dredge

Ask the Experts

August 2013
Q: Will my detector react to fine gold?

The Hunt for Remote Canyon Gold

November 2014
A large, 8-pennyweight piece popped out of a very small crevice where the water had been extremely swift in the winter, leaving no visible gravel.

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