Small Mining Operations
Small-Scale Hard Rock Mining With Water Recycling
March 2015 by Bruce Mann
Once I have established the presence of gold in the sample, I collect five-gallon bucket quantities of the rock material for processing back at my shop.
My First Carolina Nugget
On my weekends off I spent many hours dredging the Second Broad River from Cane Creek Road up to the headwaters. I used a three-inch dredge with air and graduated to a five-inch with air.
Good Assays and Bad
The high prices for gold and silver are exciting and certainly have revolutionized the prospecting and mining scene. New interest in gold and silver mining is springing up from every corner, from individual prospectors armed with gold pans to exploration and mining companies working to set up multimillion dollar commercial operations producing hundreds of thousands of ounces per year. The idea of getting riches from rocks is one that motivates a lot of folks all over the globe. It’s an exciting time, but this excitement brings out another side...
Papa's Got A Brand New Dredge!
It was time to prime the pump and start the engine! Dan’s priming method is to use a small, submersible, 12-volt pump. My priming method is to use a hand-operated diaphragm pump.
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.
Reality of the Klondike
I saw gold this summer. The kind of gold that I haven’t seen since ‘81. The kind of gold that rattles in the pan. The kind of gold that would start a stampede—even in 1898.
Good Research and Bad Luck
With every look at the box I was pulling out a few pickers and a nugget or two. The smile I had the previous night just got bigger and bigger throughout the day.
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
• Our Readers Say
• Ask The Experts
• Ask The Experts
• Ask The Experts
• Just Another Ordinary Weekend
• The Paragenesis of Gold & Silver Deposits
• Getting A Successful Start in Metal Detecting for Gold
• Placer Mining At Chititu Creek, Alaska
• Gold Rush Continues in Africa
• Gold Refining In The Ancient World
• Tasers and Mining Don't Mix
• Thinking Outside The Creek
• Melman on Gold & Silver
• Mining Stock Quotes and Mineral & Metal Prices
