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.
Romancing the Rock
With the exception of well-established operators with proven reserves and years of field experience, the high price of gold brought a flood of speculators, con men, and real estate brokers into the mix who were not previously engaged in the gold mining market.
Dredging Do's and Don'ts
I’d start the day by crawling out of my dome tent, cooking up some Spam and eggs, and heating water for instant coffee on the Coleman stove.
Legislative and Regulatory Update
- NEPA comments due
- Update on latest US Supreme Court suction gold dredging appeal
- Washington State tries to restrict suction gold dredging
Proper Spacing of Placer Sample Sites
The zone of influence of each sample must be carefully considered when deciding how far sample sites should be spaced from each other.
Shaker Tables for Processing Hard Rock Ores
Most placer equipment is really made with gold in the 30 and larger mesh sizes in mind, though if carefully used can often get reasonable recovery down to the 50 mesh size.
Papa's Got A Brand New Dredge!
It was time to prime the pump and start the engine! Dan’s priming method is to use a small, submersible, 12-volt pump. My priming method is to use a hand-operated diaphragm pump.
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.
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