All Articles
PLP Needs Our Help
March 2009 by Scott Harn
PLP President Jerry Hobbs summarized their activities in a recent letter addressed to fellow prospectors, mining clubs and mining-related businesses.
PLP is currently involved in two prolonged court battles. The Karuk Tribe of Northern California is going back to court to try to prevent the State from issuing suction dredge permits. The Siskiyou Education Project’s attempt to force the Forest Service to require a Plan of Operation for all suction dredge mining is now in the 9th Circuit Court on appeal after the miners won in District Court.
And there are three new lawsuits pending, along with several anti-mining bills in Congress. PLP would like to intervene in all of these cases to protect the rights of miners, but funds are desperately needed.
As many of you are aware, the USFS is closing thousands of miles of roads across the West through the use of Travel Management Plans. The Eldorado National Forest was the first to complete an Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision on the closures. PLP has prepared their own lawsuit against the Eldorado National Forest to stop the road closures, and it is ready to be filed. Their goal is to win this first case and set precedent for other National Forests.
We at the Journal are certainly aware that many miners and prospectors are going through tough economic times. However, we recognize that if we don’t support this effort, there will be few places left to mine or prospect in the United States. To get things started in the right direction, we answered the call for help with a $5,000 donation to PLP in February 2009.
Please consider a contribution to PLP to join the fight.
Wyoming's Billion Dollar Nugget—The Trilogy Ends
With eight loads processed, a pumpkin-size rock fell into the hopper, stopping the whole operation until I could lift it out.
It Pays to Know Your Bedrock
On our last trip, we brought ropes and went down the first waterfall forty vertical feet, only to be confronted by a second, sixty-foot-high, overhanging waterfall that emptied into a slot canyon.
What's In A Name?
The names attached to these areas came about from many sources. Many are easy to see why the name was given while others had a more contrasting note to them.
Diamonds in the Rough in Montana
The bright green rocks jutting through the prairie soil were hard to miss, but Tom Charlton still couldn’t believe his eyes. It was kimberlite, the molten rock in which diamonds are found, and preliminary tests had yielded a microscopic diamond.
Fifteen and Counting
For the 15th consecutive year, ICMJ’s Prospecting and Mining Journal was recently honored as “Prospecting Magazine of the Year” by the Best O’ North East Treasure Hunters!
Bedrock
I am going to break bedrock down a bit and explain my view of the varying scenarios I come across in the field.
A Journey Into the Silver Peak Range
The Gold Rush in California called hundreds of thousands of souls to leave their homes to journey to the the far reaches of the West. At first the rich goldfields of the Sierra Nevada beckoned to these adventurous pioneers.
Subscription Required:
The Bawl Mill
• Ask The Experts—What Should I Do Next With This Quartz Vein?
• East Coast Dredger Heads West—Part III
• Prospecting for Commercial-Scale Gold Deposits
• Hawthorne's Golden Outlook
• The Red Point Mine
• Over The Divide—Chuck Cox, 1943-2009
• Melman on Gold & Silver
• Mining Stock Quotes, Mineral & Metal Prices
• Beach Mining Returns to Washington State
Free:
Legislative and Regulatory Update
• Rahall Proposes Bill to End All Mining in the U.S.
