History & Geology
The Amazing Mineral Tourmaline
December 2013 by Chris Ralph
It is a gemstone, and yet it is also closely associated with many types of metal ores. It's valuable itself but often points toward other valuable minerals—that is certainly something prospectors want to know more about!
Calcite and Limestone
The other distinguishing feature of calcite has to do with its chemistry. Geologists sometimes take a small bottle of dilute hydrochloric acid out into the field with them because calcite reacts with acids to make a bubbly foam.
Silver and Base Metal Deposits of the Pioche District
The areas that were mineralized with the bedded ore were huge and vast tonnages were indicated, although they had no idea at the time.
Critical Metals: Copper
From time to time I’ve been doing a series on critical metals and how important they are to our complex and technological society. This month we are going to take a look at copper, and how important that metal is to our modern lives.
Copper Deposits of Alaska
Only the famous Kennecott copper mine was able to continue operating through the Depression owing to the exceptional richness of its ore.
A Journey Into the Silver Peak Range
The Gold Rush in California called hundreds of thousands of souls to leave their homes to journey to the the far reaches of the West. At first the rich goldfields of the Sierra Nevada beckoned to these adventurous pioneers.
SS Central America Gives Up Millions in Gold Rush Era Gold
A treasure-seeking young man whose name will forever remain anonymous made the months-long journey either over land or by sailing ship to California after word spread about the gold strike in 1849.
Gold Deposition and Gradients of Placer Streams—Part I
When placer miners from the gold rush era began experimenting with the slope of their sluices, they must have pondered the ideal slope for trapping gold in a creek bed too. Logic suggests the same is true for streams...
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