ALLUVIAL DEPOSIT - A specific natural occurrence of ore that is formed over millions of years of natural weathering of the surrounding rock that creates a rich concentration of ore that remains.
ASSAY OFFICE - An office that specializes in the analysis of the ore for purity and possible other metal content. An acid test is usually the most common form of estimation as to the purity and thus the value of the specimens presented.
ASSAY OFFICER (AGENT) - An authorized individual that is trained in the techniques of identifying, testing and determining the value of metal bearing ore. He or she is sometimes a government trained or certified representative, or an individual working as an authorized officer for a private company, a specific mine, or as a private business person.
AMALGAMATION - The technique by which gold is extracted from its surrounding rock using mercury as the medium by which it is recovered. (It is an extremly harmful and dangerous method that was common practice in the gold rush days). The ground up ore is soaked in mercury and then burned to remove the mercury resulting in only pure gold remaining. (Note: mercury containing gold is referred to as an "amalgam").
BEDROCK - It is the solid rock that is either exposed by natural erosion or by removing the loose or unconsolidated materials surrounding it.
BENCH DEPOSIT - It is a deposit that was previously alluvian in nature (caused by the tumbling of the ore in a river or stream), but is left dry when a river changes or deepens its course. It is sometimes also referred to as an "Old Riverbed Deposit," a "Terrace" or a "Tertiary Deposit."
BLACKSAND - Dark, heavy deposits of heavy metals and minerals such as silver, platinum, gold, hematite, magnetite, etc.. It looks and feels as heavy black sand. It is a trace indication that heavy gold is within or nearby.
CAVE-IN - The unfortunate collapse of a mine shaft.
CHANGE HOUSE - The locker room facility that allowed for the changing of clothing and showering for the miners.
CLAIM - An official registration of a particular parcel of land for mineral rights to mine the property. (Time frames and fees are usually associated with this documentation).
COLOR - The rich deep yellow color of pure gold ore is often referred to as "color." If a real prospector should approach you while you are panning for gold, they'd probably ask you; "You're gettin' any color?" They're asking you if you've gotten any small nuggets or flakes of the gold.
COMPANY STORE - A mercantile store owned and stocked by the mine owners to cater to the needs of the miners and prospectors. (Sometimes very expensive because of the lack of competition).
CONCENTRATES- The heavy materials, minerals and metal, which remain behind in the riffles of a goldpan, sluice, dredge or drywasher.
COPPER - Another member of the Gold Group. It is a natural metal (Cu). The mineral malachite would be the mineral form associated with this metal.
CREVICING - The technique of removing gold from exposed crevices in bedrock along the bank of river or stream or dry wash (bench deposit). One usually uses simple tools such as spoons, snifters, wires or screwdrivers.
CRUSHER - A machine that would crush up the raw materials after extraction into finer material for processing to remove the ore.
DREDGE - A powered vacuum machine that sucks up the rich deposits along a river bed or other water situation and forces the material extracted across riffled screens.
DRYWASHER - A vibrating system of layered riffled screens that dry, unconsolidated earthen material is sifted through using gravity and motion to separate ore. A very dusty and dirty process.
DUST - Sometimes called "Fines," a fine, or "flour ore" it consists of very fine metal flakes or grains.
FIRE IN THE HOLE - The yell or cry called out just prior to blasting a spot within the mine to warn all concerned.
FIRELESS LOCOMOTIVES - Compressed air locomotives replaced horses as the method of removing ore from deep within mines.
FLOAT - A deposit of loose rock, metals or minerals scattered on top of the ground, usually found directly downhill from its source.
FOOLS GOLD - A term for non-gold ore similar in color to gold, usually mistaken by beginning prospectors because of the brassy glitter. Usually it is iron pyrite or muscovite mica and can be easily tested by a streak test. (Gold will streak a bright yellow while pyrite will streak a blackish red).
"FORTY-NINERS" (49'ERS) - The name of the gold prospectors of 1849 that flooded California in search of gold after it was found by James Marshall in January 24th, 1848 while he was building a sawmill for Captain John Sutter near Sacramento, California. It is believed that approximately ten million dollars of gold was taken from placer deposits in the first year alone.
GOLD GROUP - A group of metals of similar family characteristics such as gold, silver and copper.
GOLD QUARTZ - The association of quartz and gold, a natural occurrence, it is believed to be the dream of every placer prospector to be able to trace back a "pay streak" of a stream, up headward to the source, the "mother lode," the gold bearing quartz veins in the original location within the mountains.
GLORY HOLE - A mine or deposit of very rich concentration of ore.
GOLD RUSH - The name given to the hurried excitement caused by the hearing that a deposit of gold has been found. Historically it usually refers to the great migration of fortune seeking prospectors into California in 1849, the greatest of all time. It is believed that over the next 13 years, placer miners extracted approximately $650,000,000 in ore from this region that became known as the "Mother Lode." A similar event took place in the late 1800's in Western Australia at Kalgoorlie where it is believed approximately $400,000,000 was found. In 1886 in Witwatersrand, near what is now Johannesburg, the worlds richest placer gold deposit was found. It is there today that the mines have reached over ten thousand feet and the temperature 125 degrees F creating real hardships for the miners.
GRUBSTAKE - It is historically referred to as the practice of advancing money or mining materials and supplies to a prospector by an interested company, party or family member to fund the claim registration, and prospecting venture. Today it sometimes is referred to as the paying and purchasing in advance of materials, food and supplies to cover the bills and expenses by a recreational prospector on weekends and vacational exploration trips.
HARDROCK MINING - It is also called "lode mining." It is removing of the ore directly from its host rock. Usually this requires lots of blasting, intense labor and machine work to follow the deposits.
HIGH-GRADING - Historically it is referred to as the stealing of ore from the owners of mines by the miners as they worked the mine. Today it is referred to one partner removing nuggets from a sluice or dredge prior to equal division by all parties concerned.
MILL - After the crushing process, the smaller earthen material is now processed in a mill to compact the material even further into a fine sand. After milling the material, it is now sent to the sand plant to separate the actual ore from the blacksand.
MOTHER LODE - The name usually associated with the deposit of rich gold silver-quartz veins in the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada (The Comstock and Homestake mines are examples in this area).
NUGGET - A lump of ore, usually caused to be rounded or tumbled polished by the water-worn movement within a alluvian situation.
OPEN CUT MINING -Open pit mining technique that continues to process earthen material starting at the top of a deposit and continuing to scrap away additional layers of earth as long as it remains profitable.
ORE - Metals in their extracted state.
OUTCROPPING - Rock exposed at the ground surface.
OVERBURDEN -
PANNED OUT - The overworking of areas or claims by the easier process of mining using pans, sluices, dredges, or drywashers that it is now unprofitable to continue. The more difficult and expensive hardrock or bedrock mining now usually takes over.
PAYDIRT - Placer gravels of good to strong profitability
PAY STREAKS - Gold found in shallow waters of river beds and streams
PLACER MINING - The extraction of free gold from unconsolidated materials, usually using a dredger, sluice or drywasher. It is the easiest form of mining ore because the liberated nuggets or particles are washed free and usually easily recovered. It is completely opposite of the harder and expensive mining technique(s) of "lode mining" in hardrock or bedrock that usually follows a vein or concentration of metals in any given direction into the earth.
POCKET - A quantity of ore that has collected in a hole, crevice or area by causes usually associated with water deposit situations. Also refers to a deposit of minerals in native rock that requires special care in removal techniques to avoid damage to the crystals, etc..
QUICKSILVER - the placing of mercury in the crevices behind the riffles in a sluice to attach and capture the very fine grains of ore as it washes over it.
RECREATIONAL PROSPECTOR - A modern day individual that tries to extract ore for fun and hopefully profit.
RIFFLES - Obstructions, depressions, dents or creases that are intentionally placed to trap heavy ore due to its high specific gravity. Usually placed in the bottom of sluices, dredges, drywashers and goldpans.
REFINERY - An onsite final processing facility that actually melts the processed ore into bars for shipping or reprocessing (stamping), usually into coinage.
SANDPLANT - The chemical ore processing facility that would separate the ore from the fine sand using mercury or chemicals. From here the ore is sent to a refinery for final processing.
SHAFT - A deep mine opening that can be vertical or diagonal to the surface above that is cut for hardrock mining to get to ore veins or concentrated material in deep situations.
SHAFT HEADFRAME - The building over a shaft that holds the hoists and cables, etc., to allow transportation from above to below and is used to lift out the extracted ore.
SILVER - The white metal in the "Gold Group," it is a natural metal element (Ag), and can be found in similar deposits of quartz and gold. It was more valuable in earlier Egyptian times because it was much rarer.
SINKS - A sinking area associated with a mine below that because of cave-ins causes the surface to sink taking homes, stores, mine buildings, etc..
SLUICE - A riffled trench system that earthen material is forced through by the force of running water and gravity to separate unconsolidated materials from ore.
SNIPER - Very similar to crevicing which is done mainly above water, except that snipering is usually referred to underwater crevicing. A sniper is one who uses simple tools such as tweezers, viewing tubes, screw drivers, wires and snifters to remove ore from underwater pockets or crevices.
SNIPER PICKS - a tool used to work gravel deposits with varying tips similar to screw drivers.
SOURDOUGH - Historically, it referred to prospectors that would carry into the field the fermenting sourdough to make biscuits, flapjacks and bread. The fermenting yeast starter could easily be smelt by others that came nearby, and thus the name "sourdough" became associated with the prospectors themselves. Today, in modern times, it is a term that refers to an experienced placer miner.
SQUARE SET TIMBER STOPPING - The technique of using square cut timber to stop cave-ins by shoring up at appropriate intervals a post and lintel system of support within a mine. (Believed to have been first used in American at the Comstock Lode mines in Nevada).
STAMPING MILL - The mold stamping facility that transforms the refined bars (from the refinery) usually into coinage.
TAILINGS - Sometimes called "gangue," which is the build-up of sand, rock, gravel, boulders and loose unconsolidated materials at the tail end of a sluice, dredge or drywasher. It is also the mound or pile of rocks and debris left after ore has been extracted from a mine.
VEIN - A rich occurrence of ore in its surrounding rock (hardrock), which hopefully is very lengthy in its deposit.
We invite you to stop into Ralph Miller Jewelers a see samples of natural Quartz/Gold ore tested to a 98% purity.