Small Mining Operations
The Mysterious Telluride Minerals
August 2020 by Chris Ralph
…let’s dive in and take a closer look at these rich gold and silver-bearing minerals to find out what they are, where they form, and how to identify them.
Putting Together A Small Free Gold Mill
Most small-scale miners want to know how they can set up a system much more cheaply. The difficulty is in the balance of putting together a decent small-scale system at a reasonable cost.
How to Use BLM’s New Mineral and Land Records System
This new map-based tool is far superior to the old version with lots of potential layers and information that a prospector can use in research.
Breaking Boulders With Explosives
The process we will be using is called “blockholing,” and it is commonly used at mines and in construction projects to break up oversize material into sizes that can be easily handled.
Sampling for Success—Part II
The first and most important thing of the sampling process is to try to be as unbiased as possible. There is a natural tendency to select rock that looks the best—even unconsciously.
Ask The Experts
Q: How do I improve my small-scale mining operation’s gold production?
21st Century American Gold Rush: Rare Earth Elements
The burning question I needed answered was why didn’t the deposit ever get mined of at least one of the valuable minerals? A couple of reasons have come to light.
Speed Prospecting for Hard Rock Gold
An online video gave me some ideas, and with a lot of trial and error I developed a reliable method of panning free gold particles down below 35 microns quickly and easily.
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• Hard Work Pays Off On Hard Rock
• Detecting: Getting Away From The Heat And Into The Gold
• The Coolgardie Gold Mining Camp of Southern California
• Gold Prospecting for Better or Worse: How Curiosity Burst My Platinum Bubble
• Prospecting for Copper—What to Look for on the Outcrop
• Dredging Tips and Tricks: A Measure of Water Pump Efficiency
• Hard Rock 101: Small-Scale Blasting
• Melman on Gold & Silver
• Mining Stock Quotes and Mineral & Metal Prices
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