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Placer Gold in the Ortiz Mountains
January 2009 by Jim Rocha
New Mexico’s Ortiz Mountains rise in irregular volcanic peaks above the surrounding plains, or llano, some 30 miles northeast of Albuquerque and about 14 miles to the south of my home outside the state capital of Santa Fe.
Dry Washing to Capture Fine Gold
There may be lots of smaller gold I cannot hear with a detector, but it looks just fine in my pan once it is out of the crevice.
The Art of Finding Coarse Gold Part II—Pocket Hunting for Residual Placers
It is a fact that many of the well-known placer districts of the Western US have small veins that contain sparse pockets of coarse gold as their source. This is the main reason why many rich placer districts have seen little or no hard rock mining...
The Portable XRF Gun
While there is no metal detector that will see only gold, there is a device that can reliably distinguish gold from lead, copper, iron or other metals. It is an X-Ray fluorescence tester, sometimes called an XRF gun.
How to Recognize Hard Rock Gold Ores
I regularly get inquiries along the line of: “Hey, I found this rock, and I think it might be gold ore. How can I tell?” Prospectors are always on the lookout for gold-bearing rocks that may be the source of any nearby placer gold.
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Legislative and Regulatory Update
• Court says ESA listing bogus
• Comments needed for Idaho project
• Crown Resources finally receives patents
Melman on Gold & Silver
Once again, economic trauma was the dominant theme of most news releases last month. It seemed we were learning about an endless array of companies in dire trouble, including many who had either filed or were on the verge of bankruptcy...
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• Ask The Experts—Where to Take Sulfide Ore for Processing
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