Small Mining Operations
The Basics of Crushing and Milling Operations
February 2011 by Chris Ralph
In processing gold, silver and other valuable ores, the minerals containing the values, such as metallic gold, silver-bearing sulfides or other minerals, must be freed from the surrounding host rock before those valuable minerals can be captured
The Smell of Gold—Part I
Some claim they can smell gold. This may be, but when I take a whiff of gold, I smell dirt, rotten eggs, garlic or just nothing: my nose is everything but sensitive.
Underwater Reclamation
Working underwater certainly has its challenges, but since I wanted to learn how to blast underwater, I just needed to dive in headfirst and take charge of the operation.
A New Method for Handling Stubborn Gravity Middlings
The solution focused on the relative difference in malleability between gold and waste, rather than the difference in density exploited by gravity circuits.
The 10-Ton Boulder: Expanding Grout Demolition
Imagine you have located a source of virgin placer ore containing immense gold value. Now imagine that there is a 10-ton monolith of extremely hard gneiss in between you and payday.
Hard Work Pays Off On Hard Rock
They worked their plan, bit by bit, and sure enough, after the blast, gold was detected… Over two pounds of beautiful crystalline gold was recovered in that stretch!
Finding Gold in Tailing Piles
Old mine workings and tailing piles can represent opportunities on many levels, from the chance to simply find a nugget on up to the commercial reworking of the old tailings for profit.
To Foam or Not to Foam
George was considering filling his dredge floats with closed-cell foam, ensuring that there would be no area available within each float for flooding.
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