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Mining in Sonora, Mexico
November 1999 by Len Padios
So you want to do some gold mining in Mexico. What do you need, where do you go, how do you begin? You begin before you even cross the border.How to Prospect for Silver Field Tests You Can Use to Detect the Hidden Metal
Don’t bother eyeballing that rock for silver! Even if it’s high grade you’ll not see the familiar dime or quarter coin color. Native silver is almost as rare as brass ore. Well, if it’s so hard to find, is silver worth looking for? You bet! Just check the latest prices—and they may go higher.
Detecting for Possible Mid-Range Eluvial Gold
Actually, this mid-range gold zone can exist in any eluvial placer field with a shallow zone where the ground “tightens up” below the loosely packed surface dirt to harder packed dirt. However, its presence depends upon several factors:
Chasing the Ghosts of Forty-Niners
Plodding in the footsteps of the forty-niners across the sun-baked Nevada desert, I feel the ghost of a man named Israel Lord tap me on the shoulder.
Altar District's Golden Lure
The Altar District of Sonora, Mexico, stretches nearly 300 miles along the American border and approximately 200 miles along the Gulf coast. This particular district was noted for its rich placer deposits and gold ledges before the Spaniards ever settled the region. Several antiguas (Spanish mines) were later developed by the Europeans and were again being operated by the Americans as early as 1904.
Gold From Black Sand Tailings
The pile up on the small hill had to be a couple yards of black sand. I’m not one to ignore a little gold even if it is small in size—I have always believed that gold fever comes in all sizes.
There's a First Time for Everyone
...day one was like watching the Gold Rush television show. He furiously worked the nozzle in an up and down fashion that resembled Jack Hoffman sitting on a backhoe.
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