Small Mining Operations
Principles of Designing Your Mill Production System, Part II: Mill Design
February 2021 by Keith Bowen
Starting small with quick profitability gives you a lot of financial elbow room plus real-world experience that can be used for final mill design.
Persistence Leads to Over a Pound of Gold
I have figured out over the years that the winning combination is hard work, persistence, knowledge, and a little luck. This leads me to describe one of my best finds ever, a “honey hole” of placer gold, if you will.
A New Method for Handling Stubborn Gravity Middlings
The solution focused on the relative difference in malleability between gold and waste, rather than the difference in density exploited by gravity circuits.
Principles of Designing Your Mill Production System, Part I: Starting Up
One of the issues that prospectors run into when working to upscale from micro-scale hard rock testing to a greater production output, is that they often confuse individual devices or machines with systems.
Lode or Placer: What Difference Does It Make?
This explains the large difference in particle sizes between placers and hydrothermal lode deposits, but also means that while the mining may be similar in some cases, the sampling and recovery techniques are usually quite different.
The Basics of Exploration Leases and Contracts—Part I
Let’s take a look at these important property aspects individually, because they all affect the value of a property and how much mining companies might or might not be interested acquiring it.
Heavy Glacial Rocks and Gold in the Midwest
Over the years, I've noticed a pattern in the type of rocks associated with the best gold deposits in Midwestern glacial gravel.
Ophir—Possibly the Best Kept Secret in Alaska—Part II
I knew the nuggets got into the nugget patch somehow, I just had to figure out how and from what direction they came.
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The Bawl Mill
• Ask The Experts - Where did the gold go?
• Ask The Experts - True north or magnetic north?
• Ask The Experts - How do I avoid claim jumping?
• Ask The Experts - Are closed placer and lode claims worth my time?
• Gold Geochemistry: Where Does Gold Come From?
• Goal Setting and Rock Tossing
• Gold Prospecting for Better or Worse: A Claim to Die For
• Tips and Tricks: How to Make Your Own Gold Bars Without Burning the Place Down
• Understanding Rock Formations: Petrology for Prospectors
• Minnesota Lawmakers Move to Stop New Mines
• Drywashing for Desert Gold—Part I
• Seven Troy Ounces of Premonition?
• I Was Looking for Gold But I Found Jade
• Melman on Gold & Silver
• Mining Stock Quotes and Mineral & Metal Prices
