Small Mining Operations
What Do You Need For A Successful Micro-Scale Mine?
September 2020 by Keith Bowen
For simplicity, I will assume that you wish to make enough profit so that you can comfortably pay your bills using just the profits from the mine.
Guinea Africa: Gold, Ebola, and a Monkey Barbecue
With great relief, the equipment I chose worked well, and after shoving into three days what should have been ten days of set-up and testing, we were up and running.
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.
Heavy Glacial Rocks and Gold in the Midwest
Over the years, I've noticed a pattern in the type of rocks associated with the best gold deposits in Midwestern glacial gravel.
A Test Grid Dredged for Gold Values
The evaluation must also consider the gold fineness or purity. The purity of the Sugardaddy nuggets is estimated at 850 fineness, meaning 85% is gold (Au), 12% is silver (Ag) with 3% being other gangue alloyed metal.
Small-Scale Concentrating and Recovery Methods
The first step in my recovery process after milling the ore to the desired size is to table it. On this particular ore, I get good results milling it to minus 100 mesh.
Prospector's Guide to Rock Breaking and Blasting
The holes were overloaded with explosives, but I didn’t know it. I was just a green mining engineer fresh out of school and told to watch as the experienced miners set the charge.
Caught Between A Hard Rock and A Rare Earth Place
The same day, while two of us were heading to Vancouver to attend the mining convention, two others from our team were headed to Nevada to begin loading the millsite equipment.
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• Ask The Experts - What is the difference between heavy and light rare earth elements?
• Ask The Experts - What are the tax implications for partners on a claim?
• Ask The Experts - What should my plan be for testing quartz for gold in North Carolina?
• Ask The Experts - Did gold deposits come from space or were they created underground?
• Ask The Experts - Is a shaker table going to work on my flour material?
• Subtle and Not So Subtle Dangers of Hard Rock Mining
• How Should I Work This Prospect?
• Tips and Tricks: Preparing Your Dredge Engine for Storage
• Fluorescent Mineral Prospecting
• More Tips on How to Find Gold with A Detector
• Using Favorable Rock Types to Find More Gold
• Gold Prospecting for Better or Worse: Of Mice and Men
• Discovering New Territory
• Melman on Gold & Silver
• Mining Stock Quotes and Mineral & Metal Prices
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