History & Geology
Understanding and Prospecting Benches
September 2011 by Jim Halloran
The most obvious benches are usually near the valley floor, but they can be thousands of feet above the valley floor. Since benches were made by streams, they can contain placer deposits.
Critical Metals: Lithium
Prospecting for lithium deposits can take a number of different directions, because this metal can be extracted from a variety of geologically differnet sources.
Glaciers and Placer Gold Deposits
It also happens sometimes that glaciers will bury valuable placer deposits. This occurs when the glacier goes over the top of an existing placer deposit.
Rare Silver Nuggets And Their Origins
Silver nuggets have been described as “ultra-rare,” “prized” and “unique.” Naturally occurring silver nuggets are rare enough to suggest caution when purchasing. Fakes have reportedly been produced and misrepresented for sale as genuine specimens.
Gold of the Iditarod Mining District, Alaska
It was the middle of winter and the valley was covered in snow, making prospecting a matter of sinking shafts in the ground.
The Amazing Mineral Tourmaline
It is a gemstone, and yet it is also closely associated with many types of metal ores. It's valuable itself but often points toward other valuable minerals—that is certainly something prospectors want to know more about!
Strategic Metals—Part I
A bill was introduced and passed by the House of Representatives earlier this year that should make the exploration and opening of a mining operation faster and easier.
Undiscovered Placer Deposits in Alaska
These conditions don’t just apply to Alaska and the Yukon; they apply to western Canada and even to the mountainous western United States.
Subscription Required:
The Bawl Mill
• Our Readers Say
• Ask The Experts - Could I stake out a 20-acre claim with a waterway running through it just as I would a lode claim?
• Ask The Experts - Do I have any grandfathered rights that post FLPMA claim holders do not have?
• Q&A With Detector Designer Dave Johnson
• Legislative and Regulatory Update
• Dredging Tips From The Golden Rogue
• Gold in the Slate Creek Basin
• Deductions: Get 'Em While You Can
• Endurance Is Golden
• Melman on Gold & Silver
• Mining Stock Quotes & Mineral and Metal Prices
• The Preacher of Sheeps**t Flats
