Small Mining Operations
Who is a Qualified Person?
January 2012 by Thom Seal, PhD, PE
So you think you have an ore deposit? The work has been long and hard, but there are a few drill holes, lots of samples and assays. The data is in a reliable computer and there may be a mine at the end of the tunnel. What is the likelihood of a profitable operation? Can you raise capital for development or exploration?Proper Placer Sample Processing
...your sampling procedures should not be designed to catch gold your mining technique will never recover.
Pumping Water With Solar Power
Solar energy can be used for any size placer or hard rock mining operation. It is most practical for small and longer-term operations provided your mine is not located in a dense forest.
Wyoming's Billion Dollar Nugget—The Trilogy Ends
With eight loads processed, a pumpkin-size rock fell into the hopper, stopping the whole operation until I could lift it out.
What To Look For—And Look Out For—In A Placer Mineral Report
Buying a placer claim or investing in a placer mining property comes with plenty of financial risks. You need as much information as possible about the mineral deposit in order to minimize those risks.
A Father’s Day to Remember: 24,000 Ounces Gold in Quartz
Father’s Day in Australia was on September 2, and it’s a day a group of miners from “down under” won’t soon forget.
Finding Gold in Tailing Piles
Old mine workings and tailing piles can represent opportunities on many levels, from the chance to simply find a nugget on up to the commercial reworking of the old tailings for profit.
Care and Lubrication of a Model 13 Laboratory Wilfley Table
A Wilfley table works best when all of the mineral being run across it (the pulp) is about the same size. For this reason, I took a good look at each of the samples.
Subscription Required:
The Bawl Mill
• Southwest Alaska Gold Project Progresses
• Good Assays and Bad
• Where to Find Gold in Indiana—Part II
• Time Well Spent
• Reality of the Klondike
• NWMA Show
• River Dredging vs. Creek Dredging—Part II
• Pot Hole Gold
• Melman on Gold & Silver
• Mining Stock Quotes and Mineral & Metal Prices







