October 1999 (Vol. 69, No. 2) $3.75
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The Bawl Mill
• Some of us probably recall the saying "the fly in the ointment."...
• "You must be morons to send me this letter!"
• Worried about Y2K?—Trust in God and the FDIC... -
Our Readers Say
• "...the small miner and prospector has lost one of their greatest friends."
• "As a taxpayer, I have to wonder what kind of fantasy land our government regulatory employees and managers live in."
• " ... this 'batty' line of reasoning was ludicrous." -
The Economy, The Environment and Equity
Clinton's poverty tour brought angry responses from many Westerners. They know that while Clinton is not to blame for the poverty he saw ... he is the reason for the crises facing some western towns. -
Carrizozo Lava Older Than Once Thought
The Valley of Fires lava flow outside Carrizozo is older than previously thought. In geologic terms, the central New Mexico volcanic feature is still a youngster at 5,000 years old. But that's considerably older than the 1,000-year-old tag scientists once placed on it... -
Montana Mining Association Raising Cash
The Montana Mining Association is trying to raise more than $150,000 to pay lawyers to continue the battle to overturn Initiative 137, the 1998 ballot issue that banned cyanide processing at most new or expanded gold mines. -
GATA Releases Open Letter to the Press
It is time to wake up to what has been going on in the gold market. I can understand some initial reticence about grasping what The Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee has been telling you: that the gold market is being manipulated. No one wants to believe that, but enough is enough. -
WANTED: Mining Poets, Singers & Storytellers
The hard-learned lessons, humor, tragedies and issues of work in mining have long been the subject of poetry, stories, songs and visual art by mineworkers and their families. -
BLM Proposed Rule Making Affects Mining Claims
In this proposed rule, BLM is seeking to amend regulations to respond to a recent law that continues to require claimants to pay location and maintenance fees on unpatented mining claims or sites and to provide annual maintenance fee waivers to small miners until September 30, 2001. -
Company Notes
• AZCO Mining Inc.
• Great Quest Metals Ltd.
• Royal Gold, Inc.
• Altair International, Inc.
• Vista Gold Corp.
• Placer Dome -
Mining Battle Case Under Advisement
Two weeks of sometimes-heated testimony have ended in a case that pits Cyprus Amax Minerals against opponents who want to prevent the company from mining ore from a central Colorado mountain. -
Sutro Tunnel a Big Draw
The population of Sutro almost reached the same number this weekend as it did during its short-lived heyday. About 600 visitors explored the site where Adolf Sutro envisioned a bustling city. -
Picks & Pans: Prospecting for Lode Gold
Most of the world's ore deposits have been found by prospectors, not by geologists nor mining engineers. This article has been prepared with this fact in mind. -
The Search for Specimen (Pocket) Gold in the California Mother Lode
Any good miner can drift along a vein to find concentrations of gold if it is there, using good eyes and panning. -
Legislative Update
Robert Sanregret—Attorney at Law
Western Mining Council
National Association of Mining Districts -
Gemstones
by Ronald F. Balazik
Excerpted from USGS Mineral Industry Survey's 1998 Annual Review -
Dry Lakes in Nevada
Desert dry lakes are the final resting place for many of the metals and compounds found within their drainage basins. Some, like Humboldt and Carson Sinks, have enormous drainage basins which include may highly-mineralized districts. -
A Hairsbreadth from Death
Few countries in the world can claim as lengthy a mining legacy as the Cornish of southwest England. Cornwall, a county situated at the farthest tip of the country at the edge of the Atlantic ocean, has been mined for tin deposits since the Bronze Age, 2100-1500 BC. -
Special Suction Dredge Permits in Jeopardy
As we go to press, Horseshoe Bar Action & Research, a division of the Gold Country Miners small-scale mining club, brought to ICMJ's attention a potentially very significant problem for gold dredgers in California. -
Cartwrights Celebrate 40 Years in Nevada
by Ron James
State Historic Preservation Officer -
Melman on Gold & Silver
By the time you read this, the onrushing, unavoidable object which was once a little speck on the distant horizon will have grown into a modest-size attention-getter. -
Looking Back
Excerpts from California Mining Journal, our original title, published 50 years ago this month.