History & Geology
The Wisdom of Mark Twain—And Tales of Cheating the Unwary Prospector
June 2012 by R. V. Larson
I (enjoy) Twain’s description of a gold mine, “A hole in the ground with a liar at the top.” Some humor here? You bet, but I’m sure he meant it to be a real eye opener as well.Gold Placers of the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
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Placer Gold Deposits of Utah
The placer deposits of Utah occur in two distinct types of environments. These are 1) placers found adjacent to, and derived from, gold, silver and base-metal deposits; and 2) placers found in major rivers and derived from unknown, distant sources.
The History of Mining Claims
Congress decided that if they shared the riches of our lands with the people, we would colonize and expand the states at a much faster pace, thus the birth of public lands and mining claims in America.
Prospecting for Surface Flood Gold Placers on Low and Intermediate Gradient Streams
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Another Prospecting Adventure: Coulterville
What also helped keep Coulterville alive was the fact that the town itself happened to be sitting on top of one of the richest veins in the Mother Lode. The ledge itself was three hundred feet wide.
Exploration Rush at Tonopah, Nevada
A few months later, a young, greenhorn lawyer agreed to pay to have it assayed, and the quartz turned out to be rich in both gold and silver.
Residual Placers: An Often Overlooked Gold Source
Because the forces of erosion and gravity tend to carry lighter materials like quartz away more easily, the heavy minerals like gold or silver will tend to be concentrated in the general area around the vein outcrop. These concentrations are what make residual placers so attractive.
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