The Goldfield Mining District, Nevada—Part I

June 2017 by Chris Ralph

An example of some of this extraordinary ore was a lot of about four tons from the Florence mine during the last days of a lease that averaged over 300 ounces of gold per ton.

Benches and Fossil Placers

March 2013
Unfortunately for us mortal humans, we have a poor perspective on geologic time. When we look at a landscape such as a stream valley, we see it only in two, or at the most, three dimensions. We have poor comprehension of the valley’s fourth and most important dimension—time.

Greenstone and Gold

September 2013
Contacts, faults and zones of weak rock are all places that can act as a pipeline to convey gold-bearing fluids, leading to valuable deposits.

The Wild Rush to Find More Cobalt—Part I

February 2018

While some future cobalt will come from recycling lithium batteries and other products, the coming huge need for cobalt is virtually a perfect storm of heavy demand and insufficient supply.

The Pearce Mineralized Area, Dragoon Mountains, Arizona—Part II

August 2013
There are many prospects within the known mineralized area and along the margins of the mineralized area that should be examined for gold and silver.

Heavy Sands Mining

February 2013
Lately my mind has been involved with group 4 of the transition elements, namely titanium, zirconium, and hafnium. They all have similar chemical properties. Of greatest interest to economic geologists and miners is that these valuable elements often occur together in sands.

Confluence Placers

June 2013
Confluences of placer streams are well known as concentration sites for heavy minerals. The basic reason is that...

Gold of the Iditarod Mining District, Alaska

March 2014
It was the middle of winter and the valley was covered in snow, making prospecting a matter of sinking shafts in the ground.

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