NOTE: Quick MINERAL PROSPECTING facts for
readers with no prior exposure to mineral engineering.
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MINERAL PROSPECTING...
Prospecting is synonymous in some ways with mineral exploration which is an organized,
large scale and scientific effort undertaken by mineral resource companies to
find commercially viable ore deposits.
Prospecting is quite intensive physical labor, involving a considerable amount of traversing
(traditionally on foot or on horseback), panning, sifting and outcrop investigation, looking for
tell-tale signs of mineralisation
The traditional methods of prospecting involves carefully and intense combing through the countryside,
often through creek beds and along ridgelines and hilltops looking for signs of
mineralisation in the outcrop.
Once a small occurrence or show was found, it is then necessary to intensively work the area often via the
addition of some complex machinery.
In some instances and for most base metal, the rock would have been mined by hand and crushed on site and the ore separated
from the gangue by hand. |
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