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Placer Gemstones
December 2001 by Edgar B. Heylmun, PhD
Only the so-called “precious gems” will be considered in this article. They are diamond, ruby, sapphire, and emerald. A “gem” must be rare, hard, and durable, and possess a unique color or quality in order to be classified as a gem.Picks & Pans: In Search of a Vein: Looking for Hardrock in the Talkeetna Mountains
Down, down, down I plummeted into the narrow granite chute. In a matter of a few seconds, I envisioned myself lying crumpled in a field of mammoth, sharp, jagged granite rocks. In those few seconds, my thoughts also imagined my life ebbing...
Becoming a Successful Detectorist
During my adventures I’ve learned a few key best practices that help me to consistently find gold nuggets with my detectors. You can apply many of these best practices to any type of prospecting. These best practices are really common sense; however, they are easy to neglect.
Melman on Gold & Silver
To paraphrase the great Sir Winston Churchill, it would appear that, “Never have so many been so happy about so much!” Investors in stocks are happy; investors in gold are happy; investors in commodities, real estate, government bonds and even airline and utility stocks are happy. Productivity is growing; inflation appears to be diminishing and...
Randsburg—Still Going Strong
Soon after the rich gold discoveries at Ballarat, near Death Valley, prospectors fanned out all over Southern California's Mohave Desert. Minor discoveries were made in many dry washes, gullies, and desolate areas, but no discovery has had the impact of the one that Frederick Mooers, John Singleton, and Charles Burcham, made in 1895.
Mining Investment—Or Fraud?
The rapid fall of the stock market created a situation in which investors not only pulled back from traditional equities, assuming dot coms are traditional investments, but many recent arrivals in the world’s...
Green Valley Gold District, Payson, Arizona
Most gold-bearing quartz veins found in the district were fracture fillings in faults enclosed by crushed quartz zones along their margins. Since the host rocks were often extensively weathered, portions of the veins stood out as positive, resistant outcrops. The gold-bearing veins ranged from a few inches wide to the vein at the Gowan mine that was as much as 12 feet wide. Oregon Governor Asks For Mineral Withdrawal
Conservation groups hope to meld the three wilderness areas and surrounding parts of southwestern Oregon into one big wilderness covering 1 million acres—a move Kulongoski has endorsed.
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