Winning the Metal: Ore Mills of the West

The ore that came out of western mines usually had to be milled to separate the valuable metals from the waste rock. Mills of many types were built to treat the variety of ores coming out of the mines. “Winning the Metal: Ore Mills of the West” takes a look at some of the more common mill processes and includes numerous photos of the West’s great mills.

Arrastras Illustrated in These Historical Photos

Water-powered arrastra at Dixie, Idaho

The remains of mining-era arrastras are fairly common in the West, but what exactly are they? The short answer is that the arrastra was the most primitive method used to crush ore into a fine enough powder that the precious metals could be separated from the host rock. While many people are familiar with the

Where to Find Gold in Washington

WMH Gold Maps for Google Earth Pro are designed to locate areas with high potential for finding placer gold. A core feature of these maps is the highlighting of townships that contain both active placer mining claims and historical gold mines. The screenshot below uses data from the Washington Gold Map and shows gold-bearing PLSS

Gold Districts of Nevada

The district locations and descriptions in this article are primarily based on the publication Mining Districts of Nevada by the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology. For districts with recorded gold placer mining activity, additional information has been included from the publication Placer Gold Deposits of Nevada – USGS Bulletin 1356. Images of district locations

1880 Vulture Mine Pipeline

Development of Arizona’s Vulture mine was impeded for many years before a pipeline that was 13-15 miles long was completed in 1880. This article takes a look at the history of the pipeline, and its effect on mining in the area.

Where to Find Gold in Oregon

WMH Gold Maps for Google Earth Pro are designed to locate areas with high potential for finding placer gold. A core feature of these maps is the highlighting of townships that contain both active placer mining claims and historical gold mines. The screenshot below uses data from the Oregon Gold Map and shows gold-bearing PLSS

Introducing the Nevada Mining Atlas

The WMH Nevada Mining Atlas is designed for use with Google Earth Pro. Included are over 450 metallic mining district location polygons (compiled by the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology), divided into views by mined commodity. The package also includes mine locations from the USGS MRDS database, divided into views by primary commodity value.