Here’s an interesting little post a gold strike in Arizona in 1988.

It only about two pages, but it is an interesting little piece and if you do any prospecting out there in the desert, which was never my cup of tea, it is worth looking at.

So take a look at: arizona-gold-strike-1988

Strike It Rich!

Today I’m posting a 1997 bibliography from the US Bureau of Mines that lists all of the reports, maps, and surveys that the BM had on Alaska mining.  I guess this is about the time that the Bureau of Mines was being shut down by Bill Clinton and most of the functions merged into the BLM. 

I’m not sure if that was the last big government agency to be shutdown, but I can’t think of any other since then.

It’s not easy reading, but it’s a great research document. 

So, take a look at the list-of-blm-docs-on-alaska-mining

Strike It Rich!

The death toll at an illegal gold mine in South Africa has now reached 76 and it is a reminder that it simply isn’t safe to venture into old mine shafts without the proper training and mining equipment.  Actually, even that is dangerous and amateurs should just not risk it.  After all, finding a hundred pound nugget would be pretty worthless if you got killed in the process. 

Furthermore, there are simply much safer ways to mine than venturing into crumbling mine shafts, especially in the US where most of the mine shafts were dug by self taught mining engineers better than a century ago. 

Strike It Rich!

Charlie

Below is a link to a 64 page document about placer mining from about 1880. I believe it is from the United States Bureau of Mines, but I didn’t see anything that said for sure.

However, it is a great document that every gold miner should read, because it has information on the big and small placer gold mines operating at the time in twelve states and the Dakota Territory. It is important for a modern gold miner to remember that those old timers found only a tiny percentage of the gold in place and recovered even less.

So if there was a paying gold mine in a given area in 1880 that’s a great area for you to prospect, because you know the paydirt is there. It’s just a matter of finding it and with modern gold mining technology it is a lot easier to find than it was when you didn’t have anything but a shovel a pan and burro.

The document also points out where gold miners might encounter diamonds, rubies, and other precious minerals.

Here’s the LINK.

Strike It Rich!

Charlie