Each month sees a shift as mining claims on public lands are opened and closed. Where this occurs and to what degree are strong indicators of the trends occurring in the mining industry. Thus, we are launching a monthly report identifying the major trends in mining claims.* February 2016 trends highlight a generally predictable month…
Eagle Mining Co. preserves two of the region’s few remaining gold mines open to the public. For $10, visitors enjoy a 1-hour guided tour of the conjoined Eagle and High Peak Mines.
The Wall Street Mill is the finest example of a gold processing mill still standing in Joshua Tree National Park. The two-stamp mill was erected on the outskirts of the scenic Wonderland of Rocks and continues to be accessible to visitors by an easy hiking trail.
In our travels, few museums are as widely known as the Sterling Hill Mining Museum in Ogdensburg, New Jersey. The florescent rocks sourced from this region are a favorite of collectors for their brilliant colors and found in collections around the world. The museum itself is a compound of structures and outdoor exhibits spanning mining equipment, regional mining history, a mine tour, as well as an impressive collection of fluorescent rocks and goods.
Jerome may be considered a ghost town today, but between late-1880s and early 1950s it was the “Billion Dollar Copper Town,” with all the challenges and profits that came with a thriving mining operation. The town is perched over a copper mine that once produced 3 million pounds of copper per month. The Jerome State Historic Park chronicles the boom and bust of Jerome through the perspectives of the Douglas family as well as the Jerome area.
While many mining museums commemorate the collection of precious metals, the New Mexico Mining Museum in Grants highlights a material that only gained value in the mid-20th century: uranium. Located 78 miles west of Albuquerque, Grants, New Mexico has experienced many booms, from railway to logging to carrots. But when a local Navajo shepherd named Paddy Martinez discovered uranium ore in nearby Haystack Mesa in 1950, Grants was flooded with uranium prospectors and experienced a mining boom spanning the 1950s to the 1980s.
Southwest Arkansas is both a literal and metaphorical gem of a location. The Crater of Diamonds State Park is located on a 95-million-year-old eroded volcano were ancient magma had deposited diamonds from the earths mantel on the surface. Today, a small fee grants anyone the chance to dig up their own diamond.
At the southern tip of the Great Smoky Mountains is a rich copper deposit with a history of conflict and innovation to out-do that of the Malakoff Diggins. The Burra Burra Copper mine and its contemporaries are commemorated in the Ducktown Basin Museum.
Emerald Village is a privately run collection of mining attractions in the Spruce Pine Mining District of eastern North Carolina. This mountainous section of the Appellation Mountains is unique for its variety and wealth of gems and minerals, including the precious stone that the village is named after: emeralds. Yet, for the emeralds, amethysts, sapphires,…
Nestled in the Appalachian Mountains of western North Carolina, off the scenic Blue Ridge Parkway, is the Spruce Pine Mining District one of the richest deposits of gems and minerals. Of these minerals, over 300 varieties are on display at the Museum of North Carolina Minerals including emerald, amethyst, sapphire, garnet, kaolin, quartz, mica, and feldspar….
