Beneath the canopy it is dark and gloomy on the forest floor, the air heavy ahead of late-afternoon rain. I am alone in a remote spot on a remote island in a remote corner of the Pacific. Three men appear from the trees behind me. They are […]
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To stumble upon in the field and recognise it for what it is – outcropping mineralisation with the grade and size potential to become an orebody. A long-anticipated moment of fierce joy and satisfaction for the lone prospector or exploration geologist. I does not happen very often […]
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How to Salt a Gold Claim: Part 2 – Karpa Springs and Busang In my previous post I described my encounter in 1984 with claim salting (or at least, alleged salting). These were early days, the late 20th Century gold boom was still young, and claim salting […]
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How to Salt a Gold Claim: Part 1 – Queensland Interlude Looking through a box of my old field notebooks the other day I came across one which contained a cartoon sketch I had made of an old Queensland prospector and remembered the story behind it. In […]
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The concept of the anomaly is one of the most basic ideas in exploration geology. It is understood in these terms - it is a truism to say that significant metal ore bodies are unusual: another word for unusual is anomalous.: therefore, if mineral explorers (explorationists) identify anomalous […]
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This post is about the different techniques used by explorationists to collect samples for assay from exposed bedrock – a process known generically as rock chip sampling. Explorationists seek to find new ore bodies. Ore bodies that reach or approach the surface are the easiest to find, […]
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