October 2002 (Vol. 72, No. 2) $3.25
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The Bawl Mill
• No end in sight to tax and spend
• Leadership or sinking ship? -
Our Readers Say
• "It's not often that I disagree with your opinions..."
• "Thank you..."
• "I've enjoyed metal detecting..." -
Legislative and Regulatory Update
• Financial Guarantees (Bonding)
• National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
• Diesel engine exhaust
• Senator Daschle inadvertently helps timber industry
• USFWS implementing Wildlands Project without voter approval -
Placer Gold in Idaho
Idaho is situated in the Rocky Mountains except for the southern third, which encompasses the Snake River Plain and desert mountains to the south. Elevations range up to 12,662 feet at Mt. Borah, with annual precipitation varying from 8 inches in the south to over 60 inches in the central mountains. -
Working the Belmont Mine Butte, Montana—1953
Waiting to go underground in the Belmont Mine in Butte, Montana, I hoped that I didn’t look like a green college kid. I enjoyed watching the ropes run through the sheaves at the top of the head frame as the shaft crew was busy changing over... -
Simple Sluice Design
One of the first pieces of prospecting equipment I acquired was a really nice little aluminum backpack sluice. I’ve used it for some time now and have always been impressed with how well it works for keeping the fine wire gold. But ever since I got on the Internet and started looking around for prospecting stuff, I have been toying with the idea of making a flexible conduit sluice. -
Cobalt and Nickel in Missouri
Cobalt and nickel are tough silver-white metals, with similar physical properties, that frequently occur together in nature, along with copper sulfides. Cobalt and nickel are used as alloys, providing great strength and resistance... -
Sunshine Mine Video Brings Back Painful Memories
When a federal employee decided to make a safety video for miners, she didn’t expect to reopen 30-year-old wounds from one of the nation’s worst mining disasters. But a roomful of tough men had watery eyes as they watched the film “You Are My Sunshine,” which recounted the Sunshine Mine disaster of 1972 that claimed 91 lives. -
Hardrock Detecting
A local mining company had been mining in the Circle mining district area creeks in interior Alaska for sixteen years. Using bulldozers, drag-lines, water pumps, and large sluicing plants, the owner-operator was very familiar with the geology... -
Gold Garbage: Scams New & Old
Here’s what actually happened, described in the case file documents: Based on a precious metal assay certificate signed by a registered southwest assayer, the sellers, in consideration of the payment of over $53 million, transfer over 185,000 troy ounces stored in a warehouse to a company based in Norway. This document was signed and notarized in a southwest town, and was publicly distributed in 2001. Guess what?! The warehouse floor concrete may have a higher gold assay than the concentrates sitting above it valued at fifty-three million. -
Company Notes
• Great Quest Metals Ltd
• Fronteer Development Group
• Vista Gold Corp.
• NovaGold Resources -
Picks & Pans: Confessions of a Professional Nuggetshooter
Howdy, fellow nuggetshooters! My name is Lunk, formerly known as Crummy, a professional nuggetshooter with a few tips for you weekenders who are thinking about going pro. -
Gondwana Gold and Diamonds
Some 250 million years ago, the Earth had just one supercontinent, known as “Pangaea.” For whatever reason, the supercontinent began to break apart. South America and Africa remained joined, as “Gondwana,” until 65 million years ago, when they split apart. The obvious “fit” of South America with Africa was noted by geologists back in the 19th century, but it was not until Alfred Wegener came out with his “continental drift” hypothesis in 1912 that people took note. -
Looking Back
Excerpts from California Mining Journal, our original title, published 50 years ago this month. -
Ghost Towns of Washington County, Utah
As people race by on Interstate 15 through the southwestern portion of Utah, they miss many relics of early silver mining and agricultural days hidden just off the freeway. Washington County had a rich mining and farming history dating back to Civil War times, and there are some that believe it still holds some hope for future mining. -
The Fire Within
I can’t remember the exact day, but I do remember I was 11 years old when my father Charlie Sr. took me prospecting for the first time. That’s the day the fire and passion for gold was first ignited in me. I was born and raised in Grand Forks, British Columbia, and was lucky enough to have a gold bearing creek about 10 miles from our home. -
2002 California State Gold Panning Championships—Foresthill, California
For the second year in a row the historic mining town of Foresthill hosted the California State Gold Panning Championships. The State Championships are sponsored by the Mother Lode Goldhounds, a California non-profit corporation. -
Melman on Gold & Silver
The world remains a fascinating place to watch, for it seems that just when some of the most serious problems appear to be on their way to resolution, a whole new collection crops up. We appear to have been in just that type of environment this past month.
