Small Mining Operations
Small-Scale Concentrating and Recovery Methods
April 2011 by Bill McCuskey
The first step in my recovery process after milling the ore to the desired size is to table it. On this particular ore, I get good results milling it to minus 100 mesh.
Detector Brings New Life to An Old Lode Mine
…it was immediately evident the previous owner had not been using a detector. During just a few months of working the dumps part-time, he recovered gold in quartz specimens valued in excess of $40,000.
Wyoming's Billion Dollar Nugget—The Trilogy Ends
Our testing over the past 15 years was to confirm or deny the USGS report completed in 1978. Besides the half acre test dig, we completed many additional test digs by hand and with the backhoe.
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.
Gold Rush in the Congo—Part II
We needed something to cook on, so we brought most of our kitchen with us including our full-size oven, which was pretty funny to see in the middle of a rainforest. Food was always a concern, but fortunately for us...
The Basics of Froth Flotation
I thought it might be worthwhile to take a look at the basics of this important mineral separation technique and how a miner can use it to recover the values out of an ore.
Small-Scale Hard Rock Production
So far this year we have recovered over three pounds of gold and the hard rock veins seem to go on forever. We now have three claims that can produce good enough gold to set up a productive operation.
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• 5th Circuit Ruling May Benefit Miners
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• Mud Men: Pocket Miners of Southwest Oregon Part III
• Legislative and Regulatory Update
• Melman on Gold & Silver
• Mining Stock Quotes and Mineral & Metal Prices
• Silver Mining Returning to Texas
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