Small Mining Operations
Refractory Gold Processing
February 2013 by Thom Seal, PhD, PE
After your excitement peaks when you first receive the high gold assay from the vein you just exposed, you ponder how you will extract and sell your gold. You will need to develop a flow sheet for your process to optimize your recovery and minimize your costs and permit requirements.Hard Rock University: Expensive Hobby or Real Business?
Improper sampling techniques lead to more avoidable heartache than almost anything else in micro mining.
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Ore testing and other advice for starting up a mining operation.
The Smell of Gold -- Part II
While mapping, I also found rock chips in the soil that were characteristic of the same wall rock alteration that occurs adjacent to the known lodes in the greenstone belt.
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Centrifugal bowls versus jigs
The Oregon Claim
When I started dredging a short distance downstream from that feature I realized that I was into a major paystreak and much of the gold was coming right out of the upper gravel. I could see the chunky pieces falling out of the gravel as they were pulled into...
How to Evaluate Mineral Claims—What to Know Before You Buy
Even though they have put down thousands of dollars, the buyers often stop paying on their claims part way through the process after they realize they’ve been duped, but the company just sells it again to another buyer.
Designing and Evaluating Placer Gold Recovery Plants
For this article, I am focusing on industrial production plants that can handle 10 cubic yards per hour or more and would be fed by a loader or other heavy equipment...
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The Bawl Mill
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• Detecting in the Outback
• What is a Valid Mineral Discovery?
• Over the Fiscal Cliff for Tax Savings
• Extracting & Smelting Your Gold
• Online Mining Classes Now Available at Mackay
• Heavy Sands Mining
• Melman on Gold & Silver
• Mining Stock Quotes and Mineral & Metal Prices
• Feds Challenge North Idaho Mining Claims







