History & Geology
The Rush to Treasure Hill
November 2012 by Bill Rich
There were some exceptional times in the far-flung history of the West. Rich finds of minerals that set men’s souls ablaze. From the rich gold fields of California, men who arrived too late to find riches went searching in every direction. The trail that we will follow leads east, past the shining silver district of the Comstock Lode.All the Gold Ever Mined...
If you have been prospecting for any length of time, then you have probably heard something like, “All the gold ever mined would equal a cube 60 feet on each side.”
Placer Gold Deposits of New Mexico
While a large number of locations have yielded some placer gold, most of the state’s placer production has come from a few productive districts.
The Ely Copper-Gold District of Nevada
![](http://www.icmj.com/userfiles/images/201501/56-toc-ely-copper.jpg)
Gold, Quartz & Chalcedony—Part I
![](http://icmj.com/userfiles/images/201110/toc-gold-quartz-chalcedony.jpg)
A New Look at Old Mines
![](http://icmj.com/userfiles/images/201104/toc-a-new-look.jpg)
Sulfides and Intergrain Gold Wire Nuggets
...these nuggets have not traveled far from the lode because the golden wire lattices would have been torn apart or flattened during weathering of rock and deposition by violent stream action.
Confluence Placers
![](http://www.icmj.com/userfiles/images/201306/TOC-confluence.jpg)
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