Small Mining Operations
Hard Work Pays Off On Hard Rock
August 2020 by Ron Kliewer
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!
Good Assays and Bad
The high prices for gold and silver are exciting and certainly have revolutionized the prospecting and mining scene. New interest in gold and silver mining is springing up from every corner, from individual prospectors armed with gold pans to exploration and mining companies working to set up multimillion dollar commercial operations producing hundreds of thousands of ounces per year. The idea of getting riches from rocks is one that motivates a lot of folks all over the globe. It’s an exciting time, but this excitement brings out another side...
Secrets of Gold Research and Why You Need It
Prospecting may not be as much fun as it once was. If that sounds like you and you want to figure out what to do to get back on the gold and be successful, I’ve got the answer: Research.
Modern Mining Reclamation
A study showed that between 1930 and 1980, only a quarter of one percent of the land in the United States was used in all mining applications combined, including surface mining, tailings disposal, underground mines, and all mineral processing facilities.
The ABCs of XRF
Fast forward to present day and the XRF has come of age. Pull the trigger on the hand-held device and you get a nearly instant assay of the surface of a rock.
The Highs and Lows of Drywashing
We were met with a plethora of mechanical problems with the dry washer and even a few with the excavator that were at times frustrating, but we were in this for the long haul, so we needed to solve these problems and move forward.
Principles of Designing Your Mill Production System, Part I: Starting Up
One of the issues that prospectors run into when working to upscale from micro-scale hard rock testing to a greater production output, is that they often confuse individual devices or machines with systems.
Ophir—Possibly the Best Kept Secret in Alaska!
...I decided to excavate the semi-frozen high-bank that was resting on a soft shale bedrock footing. Within three feet, I encountered an intrusive!
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• The Mysterious Telluride Minerals
• Detecting: Getting Away From The Heat And Into The Gold
• The Coolgardie Gold Mining Camp of Southern California
• Gold Prospecting for Better or Worse: How Curiosity Burst My Platinum Bubble
• Prospecting for Copper—What to Look for on the Outcrop
• Dredging Tips and Tricks: A Measure of Water Pump Efficiency
• Hard Rock 101: Small-Scale Blasting
• Melman on Gold & Silver
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