Prospecting Club - NORTHERN UTAH PROSPECTORS ASSOCIATION (NUPA)

USGS ARTICLE ON PROSPECTING FOR GOLD IN THE UNITED STATES

2012-01-30T08:00:00.000-08:00

Do you ever wonder which state is the best state for prospecting for gold? Here is an article written by the United State Geological Survey that describes gold deposits throughout the US.

http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/prospect2/prospectgip.html

Here is another article that discusses where gold can be found throughout the United States.

http://goldprice.org/gold-prospecting/2009/01/gold-prospecting-areas.html

Want more on this topic--the internet is full of it. Click below for article from Gold Fever Prospecting.Com

http://www.goldfeverprospecting.com/whtofigoinun.html

FIRST GENERAL MEETING OF SEASON SAW A GREAT TURNOUT!

2012-01-01T18:24:00.000-08:00

There was lots of food and lots of good times at the first general meeting of the year. Old officers were thanked and new officers were introduced. Sandy opened the meeting up to the members to gain their suggestions on what they wanted to see for the coming year. Sniping, jewelry making, questions about claims closer to the Ogden area, GPS usage, dowsing, filing claims on the internet and other things were discussed. The food was great, the company was even greater, and all had a great time.

SNIPING FOR GOLD

2011-11-07T16:05:00.000-08:00

I wish that it was this easy to get gold but here is an article that demonstrates the skill of "Sniping." Many in our club are experts at this. Curt Dayton is a great resource. He has sniping down to a fine science. Ask him about it!

Here is an article from the Gold Prospector Magazine and details how to prepare and then go on a Sniping trip.

http://www.goldfeverprospecting.com/crsnforgo.html

BAN ON DREDGING IN CALIFORNIA EXTENDED FOR FIVE MORE YEARS!

2011-08-01T08:29:00.001-07:00

(Photo from Dave McCracken Book on Dredging)

California extends suction dredging ban for 5 more yearsJul26

Written by:Article Admin
7/26/2011 3:17 PM

DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND GAME INTERPRETS AB 120 BAN ON SUCTION DREDGING

The following email from the California Department of Fish and Game was issued today (July 26, 2011):
Today, July 26, 2011, Assembly Bill 120 was approved by Governor Brown.
This legislation amends seven different codes within California State law including the Fish and Game Code. Two paragraphs in this bill refer to suction dredge mining and have substantial impacts on the process to conduct environmental review and adopt amended regulations guiding suction dredge mining in California.
The Department of Fish and Game released draft regulations and a related Draft Subsequent Environmental Impact Report (SEIR) for public review on February 28, 2011. We held six public meetings and accepted public comments through May 10, 2011. At that time we projected that we would be adopting new regulations and certifying the Final SEIR by the end of 2011. This would then have permitted the sale of suction dredge permits under newly adopted regulations.
Assembly Bill 120 affects this effort in four important ways.

First, it establishes an end date for the current moratorium of June 30, 2016. The current moratorium was established by SB 670, and took effect on August 9, 2009, without any specific end date. The new law specifies that the moratorium will end on June 30, 2016, regardless of whether DFG completes court-ordered environmental review of its existing permitting program or adopts new regulations. Of course, further legislation or action by the courts could modify that circumstance.

Second, AB 120 requires that any “new regulations fully mitigate all identified significant environmental impacts.” As directed by the Alameda County Superior Court and SB 670, DFG prepared the Draft SEIR to meet requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). In addition to CEQA, AB 120 now requires DFG to meet a “fully mitigate” standard for any adopted suction dredge mining regulations in order for the new moratorium to end any earlier than June 30, 2016.
“Fully mitigate” is not defined in statute or regulation, however, and previously the term has only been used in the Fish and Game Code in section 2081, subdivision (b), of the California Endangered Species Act.

Third, a new condition, required by AB 120 is “a fee structure is in place that will fully recover all costs to the department related to theadministration of the program.” DFG takes the view that the current fee structure is not sufficient to support the level of effort which should be devoted to implementing our authority to regulate suction dredge gold mining. In addition to the administrative costs of selling permits, DFG believes we should have environmental scientists funded through suction dredge permit fees to conduct on-site inspections as needed prior to issuing permits and also to monitor suction dredge mining to collect data on effects on aquatic and terrestrial organisms and habitat. Further, suction dredge permit fees should provide funding for game wardens to inspect, monitor and enforce compliance with any new regulations. Under current law, however, the fee structure for DFG’s permitting program is prescribed by statute. Any change to that structure is beyond the authority of DFG and any such change will require action by the California Legislature and relate approval by the Governor. Because of the legislative calendar for submittal of new legislation and the legislative process itself, it is very unlikely tha any change to the existing fee structure will occur within the 2011 calendar year.

Finally, the previous moratorium established by SB 670 was clear that DFG needed to take several actions (i.e. comply with CEQA and adopt amended regulations) which would then allow suction dredge mining to resume, under the new regulations. Said another way, DFG had the final State approval to complete the process, subject only to the Alameda County Superior Court’s concurrence. AB 120 adds a legislative step, described in the previous paragraph. Simply put, the legislature will need to affirmatively approve a new fee structure, before suction dredge mining can resume under new regulations. The perspectives of legislators about sufficiency of a fee structure and suction dredge mining generally will affect the probability of such legislation being approved.

With this set of new facts in front of DFG, we are evaluating the extent to which the work we have already done can be used under the requirements of AB 120, and how we might proceed. We do not yet have a revised workplan or schedule. However, our previous projection that this process would be complete by the end of 2011 is no longer viable. It will likely be several weeks from now before we have determined what we will need to proceed and how we can do so. I will provide additional information to the recipients of this message when there is something new to report.

THE GEOLOGY OF GOLD

2011-07-25T06:14:00.001-07:00

by Harold Kirkemo, William L. Newman, and Roger P. Ashley

Gold is relatively scarce in the earth, but it occurs in many different kinds of rocks and in many different geologial environments. Though scarce, gold is concentrated by geologic processes to form commerical deposits of two principal types: lode (primary) deposits and placer (secondary) deposits.

Lode deposits are the targets for the "hardrock" prospector seeking gold at the site of its deposition from mineralizing solutions. Geologists have proposed various hypotheses to explain the source of solutions from which mineral constituents are precipitated in lode deposts.

One widely accepted hypothesis proposes that many gold deposits, especially those found in volcanic and sedimentar rocks, formed from circulating ground waters driven by heat from bodies of magma (molten rock) intruded into the Earth"s crust within about 2 to 5 miles of the surface. Active geothermal systems, which are exploited in parts of the United States for natural hot water and steam, provide a modern analog for these gold-depositing systems. Most of the water in geothermal systems originates as rainfall, which moves downward through fractures and permeable beds in cooler parts of the crust and is drawn laterally into areas heated by magma, where it is driven upward through fractures. As the water is heated, it dissolves metals from the surrounding rocks. When the heated waters reach cooler rocks at shallower depoths, metallic minerals precipitate to form veins or blanket-like ore bodies.

Another hypothesis suggests that gold-bearing solutions may be expelled from magma as it cools, precipating ore materials as they move into cooler surround rocks. This hypothesis is applied particularly to gold deposits located in or near masses of granitic rock, which represent solidified magma.

A third hypothesis is applied mainly to gold-bearing veins in metamorphic rocks that occur in mountain belts at continental margins. In the mountain-building process, sedimentary and volcanic rocks may be deeply buried or thrust under the edge of the continent, where they are subjected to high temperatures and pressures resulting in chemical reactions that change the rocks to new mineral assemblages (metamorphism). This hypothesis suggests that ware is expelled from the rocks and migrates upwards, precipitating ore materials as pressures and temperatures decrease. The ore metals are thought to originate from the rocks undergoing active Metamorphism.

The primary concerns of the prospector or miner interest in a lode deposit of gold are to determine the average gold content (tenor) per ton of mineralized rock and the size of the deposit. From these data, estimates can be made of the deposit's value. One of the most commonly used methods for determining the gold and silver content of mineralized rocks is the fire assay. the results are reported as troy ounces of gold or silver or both per short avoidupois ton of ore or as grams pr metric ton of ore.

Placer deposits represent concentrations of gold derived from lode deposits by eroision, disintegration or decomposition of the encloding rock, and subsequent concentration by gravity.

Gold is extremely resistant to weathering and when freed from enclosiong rocks, is carried downstream as metallic particles consisting of "dust," "Flakes, "Grains," or "nuggets." Gold particles in stream depositis are often concentrated on or near bedrock, because they move dowanward during high-water periods when the entire bedload of sand, gravel, and boulders is agitated and is moving downstream. Fine gold particles collect in depressions or in pockets in sand and gravel bars where the stream current slackens. Concentrations of gold in gravel are called "pay streaks."

In gold-bearing country, prospectors look for gold where coarse sands and gravel have accumulated and where "black sands" have concentrated and setttled with the gold. Magnetite is the most common mineral in black sands, but other heavy minerals such as cassiterite, monazite, ilmenite, chromite, platinum-group metals and some gem stones may be present.

Placer deposits have formed in the same manner throughout the earth's history. The processes of weathering and erosion create surface placer deposits that may be buried under rock debris. Although these "fossil" placers are subsequently cemented into hard rocks, the shape and characteristics of old river channels are still recognizable.

The content of recoverable free gold in placer deposits is determined by the gree gold assay method which involves amalgramation of gold-bearing concentrate collected by dredging, hydraulic mining, or other placer mining operations. In the period when the price of gold was fixed, the common practice was to report assay results as the value of gold (in cents or dollars) contained in a cubic yard of material. Now results are reported as grams per cubic yard or grams per cubic meter.

Through laboratory research, the USGS has developed new methods for determining the gold content of rocks and soils sof the earth's crust. These methods, which detect and measure the amounts of other elements as well as gold, include atomic absorption spectrometry, neutron activation, and inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry. These methods enable rapid and extremely sensitive analyses to be made on large samples.

In the past two decades, low-grade disseminated gold deposits have become increasingly important. More than 75 such deposits have been found in the Western United States, mostly in Nevada. The first major producer of this type was the Carlin deposit, which was discovered in 1962 and started production in 1965. Since then many more deposits have been discivered in the vicinity of Carlin, and the Carlin area now comprises a major mining district with seven operating open pits producing more than 1,500,000 troy ounces of gold per year.

About 15 percent of the gold produced in the United States has come from mining other metallic ores. When base metals, such as copper, lead, and zince--are deposited, either in veins or as scattered mineral grains, minor amounts of gold are commonly deposited with them. Deposits of this type are mined for the predominant metals, but the gold is also recovered as a by-product during processing of the ore. Most by-produce gold has come from porphyry deposits, which are so large that even though they contain only a small amount of gold per ton of ore, so much rock is mined that a substantial amount of gold is recovered. The largest single source of by-produce gold in the United States is the porphyry deposit at Bingham Canyon, UT, which has produced about 18 million troy ounces of gold since 1906.

Geologists examine all factors controlling the origin and emplacement of mineral deposits, including those containing gold. Igenous and metamorphic rocks are studied in the field and in the laboratory to gain an understanding of how they came to their present location, how they crystallized to solid rock, and how mineral-bearing solutions formed within them.

Geologists examine all factors controlling the origin and emplacement of mineral deposits, including those containing gold. Igneous and metamorphic rocks are studied in the field and in the laboratory to gain an understanding of how they came to their present location, how they crystallized to solid rock, and how mineral-bearing solutions formed within them.

Studies of rock sturctures, such as folds, faults, fractures, and joints, and of the effects of heat and pressure on rocks suggest why and where fractures occurred and where veins might be found. Stuides of weathering processes and transporation of rock debris by water enable geologists to predict the most likely places for placer deposts to form. The occurrence of gold is not capricious, it's presence in various rocks and its occurrence under differing environmental conditions follow natural laws. As geologists increase their knowledge of the mineralizing processes, they improve their ability to find gold.

BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT CLAIMS FILING INFORMATION

2010-08-04T08:14:00.000-07:00

Click on this BLM link to find more information on gold prospecting and mining claim filing.

http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en.html

Information on this website seems to be state-related. Be sure to search using the particular state you are interested in. It is very difficult to find current general information.

Click below for information on Utah mining:

http://www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/prog/more/mining_law_locatable.html

Click below for information about Idaho mining claims.

http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/id/mining/download_documents.Par.83446.File.dat/Web%20Final%20bluebook%20rev%20_Jan%202010_.pdf

Click below for information about Nevada mining claims:

http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/res/public_room_.html

Click below for information about California mining claims. Good Site for other informaiton as well.

http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/info/iac/faqmc.html