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Mining Claim Corner, Blue Ribbon Mine, Alaska. A placer claim is a mining claim on gravel or ground from which minerals are extracted using water. [1] In the United States, the valuable mineral in a placer claim is almost always gold, although other nations mine placer deposits of platinum, tin, and diamonds.
Placer gold strikes were "poor man's diggings". Placer gold is formed by erosion forces which slowly break down gold veins embedded in bed rock and over geologic time leave the gold in the gravels and sands of ancient or presently flowing river beds. The gold is in a natural state in the form of gold dust, flakes or nuggets. [9]
Hydraulic gold mining in Alder Gulch, 1871. Photo by William Henry Jackson. Placer mining in Alder Gulch, 1872. Alder Gulch (alternatively called Alder Creek) is a place in the Ruby River valley, in the U.S. state of Montana, where gold was discovered on May 26, 1863, by William Fairweather and a group of men including Barney Hughes, Thomas Cover, Henry Rodgers, Henry Edgar and Bill Sweeney ...
Jan. 21—A sign above Montana History teacher Kris Schreiner's classroom alerts Kalispell Middle School eighth graders that they are entering Alder Gulch to mine for gold and garnets. Alder Gulch ...
Gold pans and shovels are commonly allowed, but sluice boxes and suction dredges may be prohibited in some areas. [12] [13] There are public mining areas in many states, and prospecting may allow one to stake a gold placer claim or other type of mining claim in certain areas. Some public lands have been set aside for recreational gold panning.
Plate depicting placer mining from the 1556 book De re metallica. Placers supplied most of the gold for a large part of the ancient world. Hydraulic mining methods such as hushing were used widely by the Romans across their empire, but especially in the gold fields of northern Spain after its conquest by Augustus in 25 BC.
The richest were the 1864 and 1865 placer gold strikes in Confederate Gulch, including Montana Bar, which was one of the most concentrated gold placer strikes ever made. [3] The range takes its name from the fact it is situated in a long belt-like arc. It stretches 75 miles (121 km), making it a mid-length subrange of the Rocky Mountains.
The reminder of the placer-claim, or any placer-claim not embracing any vein or lode claim, shall be paid for at the rate of two dollars and fifty cents per acre, together with all costs of proceedings;. [15] [unreliable source?] It set the price of the land claim to range $2.50 to $5.00 per acre. This price set by law has remained the same ...