Small Mining Operations

The small-scale miner has reasonable opportunity to exploit some of these small, rich placer gold deposits. 

They… create negligible fumes and much less fly rock than blasting. Below are some tips on maximizing your effectiveness with these tools.

I’ve been following the precious metals for decades, and I haven’t seen a move this powerful in many years.

May 18, 2019, after 26 years, I had finally saved enough money. I bought my one-way ticket to Fairbanks, Alaska, and I started off by finding a new job…

Let’s set up a thought experiment: Suppose you had some material that ran one ounce per ton gold, which is generally considered high grade to fantastic grade depending on the circumstances.

I’ve been in enough mines to know better, and I mentally kicked myself several times. That was a close call…

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.

They worked their plan, bit by bit, and sure enough, after the blast, gold was detected… Over two pounds of beautiful crystalline gold was recovered in that stretch!

…let’s dive in and take a closer look at these rich gold and silver-bearing minerals to find out what they are, where they form, and how to identify them.

Mining claimants who wish to retain their mining claims on Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service lands through the 2021 assessment year must pay a maintenance fee or file a maintenance fee waiver certificate on or before September 1…

For the prospector, knowing what oxidized hydrothermal alteration looks like in the field is an important exploration tool.

…as an academic argument, when mated to the appropriate engine, is the pump really moving water at the rate of 400 GPM?

…the process remains much the same: Drill holes, load explosives, close up the holes, blast and muck out the resulting broken rock.

Micro blasting can be used to take down hanging rock, separate minerals from overburden, and collect gemstones and other high-value product with minimal damage.

The problem is that extracting gold from hard rock is often a lot more difficult than processing placer gravels. Still, there is some very high-grade ore out there in many old mining areas.

An online video gave me some ideas, and with a lot of trial and error I developed a reliable method of panning free gold particles down below 35 microns quickly and easily.

Since we know that the secret to breaking rock is applying force from the inside out (putting tension on the rock), we will be looking at ways we can generate force using human and machine power.

One of the first things we did while looking at buying the equipment was figuring out how it would dovetail into the milling process we already had in mind.

Present conflicts and realizations having to do with dependence on China have illuminated the fact that suction dredge miners have a vital role to play and are an ignored and untapped domestic resource—until now.

…for a few hours, we fervently dug for gold. After we did a cleanup, I couldn’t believe the amount we got.