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.
Conductive Minerals and Your Metal Detector
...most prospectors don't even think about the conductivity of minerals, but there are some that do conduct electricity to a certain degree, so metal detectors will respond to them.
The Jenkins Mine Project, Conclusion—Recovery Operations & Summary
This project taught me that you don’t need to be Albert Einstein to apply a little science to your prospecting. I learned that most of the science related to suction dredging is actually common sense. All we need to do is take the time to apply it.
A Father’s Day to Remember: 24,000 Ounces Gold in Quartz
Father’s Day in Australia was on September 2, and it’s a day a group of miners from “down under” won’t soon forget.
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.
Small-Scale Processing of Hard Rock Ores
Depending on the ore and if significant sulfides are present, a hard rock miner may be able to get away with simply using a flux to digest the other minerals that may be present.
How Rich Must My Ore Be?
How rich does a hard rock ore have to be for it to be worthwhile to process and extract the gold?
The ABCs of XRF
Fast forward to present day and the XRF has come of age. Pull the trigger on the hand-held device and you get a nearly instant assay of the surface of a rock.
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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
