Nuggets of News Blog 

For thousands of years, humans have been prospecting, mining and refining metals. The invention of smelting was a true technological advancement for mankind and marked the end of the Stone Age. Working with native metals such as copper, silver, gold, lead, and tin came first. These metals have fairly low melting points and the ability to cast and forge them was revolutionary. The Bronze Age was born when tin was mixed with copper, creating the first alloy and better weapons of war.

As the centuries passed, metallurgists tried to figure out how to smelt iron. Iron doesn't occur in its native form and melts at a far higher temperature than any of the metals that had been smelted previously. By developing an ingenious process, iron was at last smelted, forged, and put to good use. Thousands of years have passed since the Iron Age began, and since then many exotic compounds have been created to support our quest for better and better technology.

Whether you've recovered natural gold (nuggets, flakes, wire gold, pickers, flour gold) or have unwanted jewelry or beat up old coins, you can smelt these at home. Choices for doing so include a small but high-powered electric furnace, a torch, or a small portable melting kiln kit you can also take into the field. To get started, you will also need basic gold smelting supplies such as flux, crucibles, tongs, ingot molds, and safety equipment.

Professional mining companies recover gold and other precious metals in quantities sufficient enough to pay refiners to do the smelting for them. But now you can smelt or melt your own gold, silver, and other metals at home!
 

Mark your calendars to attend a Gold Show in 2014!

Gold and Treasure Expos sponsored by the Gold Prospectors Association of America (GPAA) are open to the public. Admission is $5 for adults; free for kids under 12. Each paid attendee will receive a 14 inch GPAA Gold Catcher Gold Pan and a copy of Gold Prospectors, the GPAA’s national magazine. Also, the first 100 paid attendees will receive a free vial of real gold!
 

Jan. 18-19:  Mesa Convention Center
263 N Center St,
Mesa, AZ 85201
(480) 644-2178

Jan. 31-Feb. 1: Douglas County Fairgrounds Complex

2110 Frear St.
Roseburg, OR 97471

(541) 957-7010

Feb. 22-23: Fresno Fair Grounds
1121 S Chance Ave, Fresno, CA 93702
(559) 650-3247

April 12-13:  Antelope Valley Fairgrounds
2551 W Avenue H

Lancaster, CA 93536

(661) 206-0427

April 26-27:  South Point Hotel & Casino

9777 Las Vegas Blvd.

South Las Vegas, NV

(866) 796-7111

May 10-11:  Puyallup Fair and Events Center

110 9th Ave. SW

Puyallup, WA 98371

(253) 845-1771


 

ALSO MARK YOUR CALENDARS for the...

2014 Gold Prospecting & Mining Summit
April 5 & 6, 2014
Eldorado County Fairgrounds
Placerville, California
10am - 5pm, Sat. April 5 and 10am - 4pm, Sun, April 6

After a hiatus last year, this Summit returns to the Eldorado County Fairgrounds and features 80 booths with the latest in prospecting and mining equipment. Sponsored by ICMJ's Prospecting and Mining Journal, a team of writers and experts will be on hand to provide you with the information you need to succeed at gold prospecting and gold mining.

Lecture topics include:

• Basic Gold Prospecting Techniques
• Current Regulations
• Staking and Holding Mining Claims
• Setting Up A Placer Operation
• Mineral Identification
• Detecting for Gold
• More!

And back by popular demand... Two Additional Days of Hands-on Training! Admission is $5 at the door. Fairgrounds charges $5 parking per day. No pre-registration required for the Mining Summit, but pre- registration is a good idea for the Hands-on Training classes.