Prospecting & Detecting
Practical Advice for Milling Hard Rock Ores
July 2020 by Chris Ralph
The problem is that extracting gold from hard rock is often a lot more difficult than processing placer gravels. Still, there is some very high-grade ore out there in many old mining areas.
Modesto, California Man Finds 18-Ounce Nugget
Oscar Espinoza considers himself an amateur gold prospector, but the gold nugget he recently found puts many seasoned prospectors to shame.
My Introduction To Gold Prospecting
At the end of the day, Jerry showed me how to clean out the sluice box and then how to pan out the concentrates. As we finished panning, there it was—a little tiny smile of gold...
Resurrecting An Old Hard Rock Mine
There were nice sections of vein material at the end of several drifts, like they just stopped work one day and walked away.
A Good Start
We split up in order to cover a larger area and found good color almost everywhere. The bedrock was shallow on both sides of the river, but the inside bend was where we concentrated our prospecting.
Revisiting an Old Mine in Idaho Reaps Rewards
Our research indicated this whole area had been claimed by Newmont mining company for several years, but when the price of gold dropped they let the claims expire, and we confirmed this with the local BLM office.
Pinpointing for Gold
This rock had been with a family for many years and they were cleaning up an old workshop that had lots of minerals and miscellaneous “ore” samples.
Scams, Scammers and Schemes
Gold mining has received many black eyes from many scams, scammers and schemes throughout the years. Unscrupulous scammers have swindled naive people for millions of dollars in the past and will, no doubt, continue into the future.
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The Bawl Mill
• Ask The Experts - Can GPR be used for lode prospecting?
• Ask The Experts - How do I extract gold from pyrite?
• Ask The Experts - Should I dig faint sounds with no indicator bars while detecting?
• Ask The Experts - Should the detector sound on iron and nickel in a gold area?
• Hard Rock 101: Micro Blasting
• Sluicing and Detecting Downstream
• Tips and Tricks
• Gold Prospecting for Better or Worse: Does Caliche Grow?
• 10 Keys to Prospecting Like A Pro
• Polymetallic Skarn Deposits
• Speed Prospecting for Hard Rock Gold
• Forrest Fenn Treasure Chest Finally Found?
• Melman on Gold & Silver
• Mining Stock Quotes and Mineral & Metal Prices
