All Articles
The Business of Mines—Consider Your Tax Deductions Now
May 2007 by Mark E. Battersby
Uncle Sam, the not-so-silent partner of every miner, dredger and prospector is willing, using our tax laws, to help reduce out-of-pocket expenditures necessary to acquire business assets and property. In addition to the well-known depreciation deduction, however, the tax laws permit tax write-offs for other, less tangible business assets. The best time to explore and lock-in many of these overlooked and misunderstood deductions is now, well before the end of the tax year.Battle Heats Up Over California Suction Dredging
The State of California is seeking dismissal of the federal lawsuit filed by Public Lands for the People (PLP) on grounds that they are immune from such lawsuits under the 11th Amendment to the US Constitution. However, there is plenty of prior case precedence suggesting that state officials and agencies are open to such lawsuits when they assume responsibility for regulatory authority from the federal government.
Over the Divide
Charles L. Butler
1920 - 2014
Legislative and Regulatory Update
• Senate moves on ESA reform
• Suit challenges patenting
• Canyon takes its case to the Supreme Court
From Hand Sluice to Dredge
Gold prospecting in Virginia: Like most prospecting greenhorns, I entered the gold prospecting hobby with a pan, a shovel and a hand sluice. It was January 2007, and I had just stumbled upon the hobby of gold prospecting while researching...
BLM Runs Check on Assay Services
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) recently conducted a multi-year study of sixty-five assay laboratories to determine the accuracy of their testing procedures. The laboratories, all located in North America, were provided with ore samples of known concentrations without benefit of identifying the source as BLM. Payment was rendered for the service provided.
Tucson Show Marketing
Normally we do not cover gem and mineral shows, but this one is a little different. The Tucson (Arizona) Gem and Mineral show is the sales source for so many small mining operations, I felt I had to address this show and its possibilities for the small miner.
How to Interpret Assay Values
This assay system of ounces per ton sounds simple enough, but the use of the metric system and the additional measuring terms of “grams per ton” and “parts per million” (ppm) has created some misunderstanding of ore value.
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• Ask the Experts—Where can I find plans for a home-built suction dredge?
• Ask The Experts—Can you help explain the ratings in Melman On Gold & Silver?
• Recovering Values from Black Sands
• Typhoon Exploration—Junior Mining Company Moves Forward in Quebec
• Kalgoorlie, Australia—Born of Gold
• Colorado Court Rules on Cyanide Ban
• Selling Your Gold—Where To Start
• Exploration, Development and Taxes
• US v. Donald Eno—IBLA Rules in Favor of Miner
• Miners Clean Washington Rivers and Streams
• Melman on Gold & Silver
• Mining Stock Quotes, Mineral & Metal Prices
• Looking Back
