The Wild Rush to Find More Cobalt—Part I

February 2018 by Chris Ralph

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.

Eastern Arizona: Gold and Base Metal Deposits—Part I

February 2011
Arizona is well-known for its copper-gold porphyries and massive base metal-gold sulfide deposits such that primary gold deposits in the state are often overshadowed.

Mining Pegmatite Deposits

July 2018

With successively lower temperatures as the water mixture cools, new sets of minerals are formed and many of those stable at a higher degree of heat became subject to alteration as the temperature progressively moved lower.

Gold of Plumas County

November 2010
Plumas County has a rich heritage of gold mining, much of it from placer deposits that can still be searched and panned today. Being at the far northern end of California’s famed Mother Lode, it is quite often overlooked by those searching for gold today—really a well-kept secret after all of these years!

All About Quartz—Part I

May 2013
One of the first minerals most prospectors learn to recognize is quartz, because, in the right circumstances, it can be an excellent indicator mineral for prospectors. Quartz is common, easy to identify, and is often associated with gold and other valuable metal deposits.

All About Minerals

November 2015
There are several common ways that new mineral crystals form and grow. Perhaps the simplest is when minerals form through the cooling of molten rock and the atoms bond together into mineral crystals.

California: The Land of Big Nuggets—Part II

January 2018

There are a number of Tertiary river channels in the area, most of which trend south-southwest. They tend to be steep, narrow, and rich with coarse gold.

Critical Metals: Antimony

June 2016
I’ve been taking a look at the mining and uses of a number of critical metals in series of articles, and it’s time to take a look at antimony.

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