History & Geology
Understanding and Prospecting Benches
September 2011 by Jim Halloran
The most obvious benches are usually near the valley floor, but they can be thousands of feet above the valley floor. Since benches were made by streams, they can contain placer deposits.
Prospecting Homonyms
Three homonyms come to mind when I think of gemstones, gold and vegetables: carrot, carat and karat. Let’s look at carrot first.
The Paragenesis of Gold & Silver Deposits
…if you are game for digging in and learning more about the intricate details of how gold deposits form, then let’s jump right in.
Why Haven't They Mined This Claim?
Improvements in mining equipment and techniques, along with a higher gold price, make many mining properties profitable today that may not have been in the past.
Silver and Base Metal Deposits of the Pioche District
The areas that were mineralized with the bedded ore were huge and vast tonnages were indicated, although they had no idea at the time.
Prospecting for Surface Flood Gold Placers on Low and Intermediate Gradient Streams
Sample panning is a very important method used to find the richest parts of a flood gold deposit before setting up equipment and running material.Natural Gold Alloys
Natural gold is never 100% pure; all natural nuggets contain at least some impurities. We're going to take a look at just what some of those impurities might be.
California: The Land of Big Nuggets—Part II
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.
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