Customer Reviews

Modern Prospecting: How to Find, Claim and Sell Mineral Deposits (Prospecting and Treasure Hunting)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In what is really a one of a kind book, Roger McPherson provides insight into what it takes to start out, practices as, and succeed as a mineral prospector. This is not a rambling history of the old west like so many other so called prospecting books. McPherson is a pro, not only does he explain the geology of various deposit types, he details the legal process of staking a claim, how to do a background search on the property, even the ins and outs of marketing your find. I am a consulting geologist to the mining industry, and I have always wanted to prospect independently on the side. Roger McPherson has given me a valuable tool to start my endeavers with. To top it all off, he does it with wit and anecdotes that will make you want to grab a pick and head for the hills.

_I wish that this book had been available when I was a recent geology graduate. It gives the sort of detailed practical information that is absent from many college programs. For instance, my classmates and I had no idea how or where to go to get a sample assayed, how to do a land search, or how and where to file a claim. This book gives you the details, copies of the forms, and current addresses.

_Not only that, but it gives you the practical details of what sort of rock associations and structures are most likely to yield viable ore deposits (the environmental and "pure" academic geologists also tended to gloss over and ignore this information as "low brow" at my school.) Hardrock, placer, and diamond prospecting are all well covered. In my opinion just chapter 11 (Researching a Prospect) with its checklist is worth the price of the book.

_What the book doesn't do is show you how to do basic rock and mineral identification. A good physical geology class and lab should teach you this- as well as how to read topographic and geological maps. Nor will it teach you how to pan- but no book can really teach that.

_This isn't just armchair theory either, for the book is filled with dozens of accounts from working prospectors, geologists, and small mine owners (it even gives most of their real names.) You are benefiting from a great deal of hard won experience here. But, most of all, you are shown that you have legitimate options other than working for big mining or oil companies, or big federal or state agencies.

_Personally, I place this book up there with Pearl's "Handbook for Prospector's" and Von Bernewitz' "Handbook for Prospectors and Operators of Small Mines."

If you ever had some dreams of prospecting you will find gold in this book. The book contains a ton of information you can use and you will get a real good understanding about what you don't know. I plan on reading chapters over and over and be able to identify rocks and minerals you might find in the gold neiborhood. It names the rocks and minerals so you know what to look for. You will then know where your knowledge base is weak and what you have to learn to catch up.

I saw this book as a geologists stand point on what types of rocks to look for when trying to find gold. Also, what types of rocks that gold is commonly found by. The book would of had five stars if it would of had pictures so you could see what was being described.

This is an awesome book for the very serious gold prospector. If you are just looking to play around and look for gold as a hobby, this may not be the route to go. But if you are looking to find your own claim or are searching for lode veins this is a priceless tool.

Taken on a page by page basis this is quite a well written book but the structure of the whole is somewhat jumbled and has the overall feel of a draft rather than a well edited final version. I'm not sure it's for a beginner since geological terms (which are often not well explained) are rattled off at a fast rate and a lot prospecting jargon like 'grubstaking' is also used without a good explanation of what it is and how it works.

But there are some good tips in the book and I liked the way anecdotes were mixed with quotes from various people. However there were some fairly big factual mistakes which left me a bit taken aback because they were so basic.

I bought the book looking for ideas on how best to get a third party involved with developing a prospect but the 10 pages that dealt with that left me dissapointed. There was just a couple of sentences which contained concrete advice on how to deal with a large company. The diamond section was also distinctly light-weight.

It would have also been nice to find out more about the author's own success (if any) and what he had acheived but I'm still no wiser what he had looked for (apart from gold in Alaska) and what he had ever found.