Small Mining Operations
Wyoming's Billion Dollar Nugget—The Trilogy Ends
June 2011 by David C. Freitag
The next hurdle to jump was whether the trommel motor would start again after sitting on the desert for six years without being started. The last time it had taken a three foot pipe wrench to bust it loose.
Proper Assaying of Placer Samples
The whole purpose of sampling mineralized ground is to measure the values in a small volume of material that would be representative of a much larger volume of similar material. The key word is representative. Chemical and fire assaying will not accurately represent placer deposits by themselves.
Hidden Value in Old Tailings
The 15 rare earth elements were discovered long after the gold rush began to wane, but demand for them only took off over the past 10 years...
Gold in Quartz
Because quartz and gold may be deposited together across a considerable range of temperatures, not all quartz veins are the same, and there are several different types of gold-quartz deposits.
Persistence Leads to Over a Pound of Gold
I have figured out over the years that the winning combination is hard work, persistence, knowledge, and a little luck. This leads me to describe one of my best finds ever, a “honey hole” of placer gold, if you will.
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.
Dredging Backwards?
Before I tell you what dredging backwards is, I’ll tell you why my team and I decided to give this very unconventional dredging method a try.
What Happened to The Gold Prospecting and Mining Summit?
We continue to seek out a patented mining property with an owner who is willing to host such an event with a water supply and enough remaining gold to make it worthwhile for the students.
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