History & Geology
Strategic Metals—Part II
December 2013 by Bill Rich
There are literally thousands of abandoned wasterock and ore dumps that dot the United States that could hold many tones of strategic metals.
Gold Rush Continues in Africa
…some miners are doing exceptionally well… with a few obtaining amounts estimated in the millions of dollars.
Glaciers and Placer Gold Deposits
It also happens sometimes that glaciers will bury valuable placer deposits. This occurs when the glacier goes over the top of an existing placer deposit.
The Downieville Gold District
Many locals are just waiting for California to allow dredging once more, especially with the current gold prices. There are still plenty of good opportunities for prospectors in this area, just as it has been for so many years.
Prospecting for Nickel Deposits
The periodic exploration efforts for nickel during periods of high prices have been sporadic and incomplete. There is a role for the prospector and geologist in searching laterites potentially rich in nickel and mafic igneous bodies that may be rich in nickel.
Critical Minerals: Tungsten
Because tungsten minerals are heavy, exploration can be done using stream sediment samples. Prospectors looking for gold have found scheelite or wolframite in their placer concentrates, and in some cases this has led them to make important tungsten finds.
Using Vegetation and Soil Conditions as Prospecting Aids
Wouldn’t it be great if you could know if there is gold in the ground without setting foot on the ground? Well you can, to a certain extent, if you can recognize mined ground from unmined.
Gold Circle (Midas) Gold District
Many prospectors thought that Nevada was all prospected out following all the rich discoveries of the 1860s and 1870s, and what was there to be found had already been found.
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