History & Geology
Gold of Plumas County
November 2010 by Frank Lorey III
Plumas County has a rich heritage of gold mining, much of it from placer deposits that can still be searched and panned today. Being at the far northern end of California’s famed Mother Lode, it is quite often overlooked by those searching for gold today—really a well-kept secret after all of these years!Gold, Quartz & Chalcedony—Part I
Gold has always been noted to have an affinity for quartz to such a degree prospectors almost always dig on quartz veins in a search for the precious metal.
The Potholes—California’s Oldest Known Mining District
Every time we prospected here we found gold, sometimes some really coarse flakes, but no large nuggets (yet).
Why Did This Silver Mine Close? - Pt III
Narrowing down a closure date will allow you to check the commodity price during that time and possibly confirm that a low price, rather than a lack of ore, was the driving force that closed the operation.
Gold: Is It Everywhere?
Gold, on the other hand, is super rare, and is one of the rarest elements in the earth’s crust. It averages only 0.000004 percent of the earth’s surface. That is four parts in a billion.
It Pays to Know Your Bedrock
On our last trip, we brought ropes and went down the first waterfall forty vertical feet, only to be confronted by a second, sixty-foot-high, overhanging waterfall that emptied into a slot canyon.
The Mysterious Telluride Minerals
…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.
The Verde Copper-Gold-Silver-Zinc District, Jerome, Arizona
When I was a student in the College of Mines at the University of Utah, the Verde district was used as an exploration model for “submarine volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits.” So I looked forward to visiting this district and the town of Jerome in central Arizona in the spring of 2012.
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The Bawl Mill
• Legislative and Regulatory Update
• The Jenkins Mine Project, Conclusion—Recovery Operations & Summary
• Recent Prospecting in Plumas County
• Prospecting for Nickel Deposits
• Detecting My Way Across Australia—Pt II
• Detectors Versus Pans
• Check The Box For Tax Savings
• Mining Stock Quotes & Mineral and Metal Prices
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Undiscovered Placer Deposits in Alaska
• Melman on Gold & Silver