Sampling, Hydro-Shocking & Cleaning Quartz-Gold Specimens

May 2017 by Reese Townes

Many specimens have a small amount of gold and are not pretty to look at. There is a nifty way to give them a makeover and make them much prettier than they were when you found them. 

The Basics of Geophysical Exploration

February 2012
In developing a mineral property or mining claims, one of the first goals is to identify and quantify valuable deposits. The classic method of doing this is by drilling holes into the ground to sample what is below the surface. The problem is that one or two holes usually are not going to tell you a whole lot...

Moving The Big Rocks

October 2016
The anticipation of finding out if the system of snatch blocks, shackles, chokers, anchor points, and the strap binding the massive slab of rock in the bottom of the river would even budge an inch was weighing on me. 

Hard Rock University: Expensive Hobby or Real Business?

July 2015
Improper sampling techniques lead to more avoidable heartache than almost anything else in micro mining.

Ask The Experts

August 2016
Which comes first, claim filing or staking?

What To Do When Gold Recovery and Assay Values Differ

May 2018

Before going into an analysis of the ore composition, two other major factors will affect the result. These are the accuracy of the assay and the effectiveness of the mill for the gold recovery.

Determining the Amount of Gold in Rich Ores

February 2016
This is just the type of specimen that could have been easily ignored by the old-time miners. It felt a little heavier in my hand than a chunk of quartz of that size ought to have been.

Crushing Quartz in Calaveras County: A Placer Miner Learns New Tricks

June 2014
I had never run an impact mill before, but anything involving rocks, water and a big electric motor sounded great.

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