Thank you, love that you share and educate. I live in Dayton Nevada and went to school in Virginia City and graduated in 1981. I'm 62 and a rockhound I'm proud to know that you attended UNR. I wished I would have not let life pass me by. I wanted to do what you do.
Wow. You are so knowledgeable. I wish I knew half as much as you. I love rocks too. I’m always looking for stone tools and minerals. Really interesting video. Keep them coming. Be safe.
This was fun. I spent my summers wandering around rock hounding Arizona, New Mexico, we the four corners region, growing up. My dad and grandfather were both taking me out on adventures from the time I was old enough to walk. Happy days.
This video was fascinating to me. The landscape dominated by rocks is so different than what I’m used to here in the east. I would love to roam around in such an area. So much eye candy. I lived in So CA for a few years. My husband took me camping on the high desert north of LA. Loved it. I took a geology class in summer school, early 70’s😁, Shenandoah Vallley. Our professor took us fossil hunting at a road cut, some digging at a hill that was an old volcano core and I found some olivine. Or maybe I found the olivine at the quarry he took us to. I forgot, LOL. Thank you so much Elley for taking us along! 🥰.
Had a Blast!! Thank you for the education and information. As always, it is great to see you really get excited about your geology. Can't wait to do it again
I was just there the last week of February, checking out some mine sites on the north side of the interstate. Watching this video helped me figure out what I was looking at. I wish I could have hung out with all of you, I could have learned so much.
Very informative. Safety Glasses appear optional, but having caught a rock chip in the eye .... they are wildly encouraged when operating hammers and chisels. Your milage may vary.
LOL one of the specimens that you were looking at reminded me lf a "crystal" called Moldavite. Of course, only found in Moldavia where it was created by a comet hitting the earth supposedly giving it all kinds of mystical attributes. Studied some of the "crystals" people give all kinds of powers to. Interesting, but moldavite was the only one I could "feel" anything from by holding it in my hand. Funny the way people can swear to be receiving different "power" from things like crystals. But they are things of beauty and that alone is good enough for me. 8-)
Cool stuff and I learn a lot from watching your videos! I’ve never been to your part of the country, I live in North Carolina. Beautiful and fascinating places around ya! ❤❤❤
When doing geological evaluations of claims, probably as annual assessment work, do you prepare maps, assays, resource estimates, etc.? And do you provide a statement for the BLM that you have performed $X geological evaluation on Y claims? As an old Wyoming geologist I have done assissment work on many claims and how detailed the work is has varied widely but I have always produced some sort of written report detailing what I did.
I don't have a claim, but I have a very very good idea of where you were for this one! No spoilers though. I'm in the same area and would love to explore with you one day...Jeep girl to Jeep girl! I can pick up agates all day around camp, but would really love to learn more!
If mine owners dont want others in or around thier mines then people cant...whether its BLM land or not. I have went over all this with the main office in Phoenix. Ill explain why. Because if someone gets hurt in your mine then guess what? Your liable for that. Not the BLM. Another reason is alot of miners keep thier equipment right at thier mines for convenience from having to haul it all back and forth from thier homes to thier mines and just allowing anyone wandering around thier mines is just asking for problems such as a lot of theft and vandalism. Believe me, this has happened to me. Also if you just allow anyone roaming around yoyr mines that opens a whole new can of worms, mainly regarding rival miners that may try anything to try taking over your mine. You just have to be very careful who goes onto your mine site nowadays. I trust NOONE when it comes to my mines. With all this said.. how would you feel with just anyone roaming around your mines? Actually you got permission from the mine owner which is 150% legal... And with the mine operator being there too is even a major plus! :) And hes right on keeping those claims private. VERY smart on yours and his behalf! 😁👍 Just by looking at the background i THINK i know about where thats at but im not going to say on here.. nobody elses business. :) I had an interest in one of those XRFs at one time ... Until i found out the prices of those. That changed my mind like expeditiously. Lmao. MineOperator was using one of those on thier channel and i was asking them about thiers. But they borrowed that just to test it out. When they told me the price of those i was like 😮😮😮😮... And the pricing they told me was just on the low end. Lmao Anyways, youd be welcome at my mines anytime... Only because ur qualified and know what your doing. :)
Actually, an unpatented mining claim gives the claim holder the right to explore and mine lode or placer minerals and conduct activities associated with that on his or her claim, no more, no less. There are plenty of cases construing the 1872 Mining Act that hold this. Anyone else can enter for other activities such as cattle grazing, hiking, hunting, bird watching, etc. as long as they do not interfere with mineral activities. I would say that rock hounding is a gray area but it is close enough to mineral exploration that I would say that it would be a violation (minor) of the claim holders rights but I could also argue that picking up something loose does not violate a lode claim but possibly could on a placer claim. That is the problem with unpatented claims, they only give limited rights to the claim holder. This has been an issue since 1872 but in today's political climate it is unlikely to change. If anything ever happens it is probably going to some sort of federal leasing program as exists for most state lands with royalties for anything produced. Anyone who tries to run off another person who is just passing through a claim on their own lawful pursuits is risking criminal charges, e.g. assault. If there is a dangerous site or condition and it is obvious and signs are posted (DANGER! Do not enter. You can die! Toxic/poisonous materials may be present.) there is very little likelihood of being held liable because you have not been negligent and have satisfied any duty to warn. Liability is often used for an excuse rather than being a meaningful legal risk. BTW, I am an old Wyoming geologist who became an attorney after the minerals and oil bust in the early '80s.
@@georgem7965 yes and I know all that but also claim holders do have the right to not allow anyone into Thier mines or mine workings just because of the liabilities that could be involved. I have my mines posted with active mine danger signs and security cameras all over the place simply because I don't want nobody getting nosey in my mines. I already had this talk with the State BLM Office and they agreed. I don't care if anyone passes thru my claims .. they can pass through all they want.. have at it. But when it comes to my workings ... That's when I draw the line. Had too much vandalism and equipment stolen to just allow or accept just anyone into my mine workings. What they don't know, they can't take or vandalize. A few years ago I cleaned up a huge collapse in one of my mines. I timbered it and had it all ready to go but then I got sick so I couldn't check on it for quite a while. But when I did I found the door was ripped off the hinges and the timbers was all pulled out and used as firewood and I had to end up cleaning out yet another collapse. Not as funny as anyone may think. That's just one reason I don't want people in my mines. As far as picking up anything anywhere else on my claims, again have at it... Just NOT in my mines themselves. Personally I wish they'd just go back to Patenting. Much better control over your lands that way and no interference by outside entities... Unless there's laws broken or having employees working for you.
@@user-jk1dh2zi7h well none of that matters when ur not at ur mine. Idiots just waltz right in when ur not there... Because they can. Noone there to stop them so signing anything really doesn't mean much. I could sign anything... and I will still go thru ur mine and take or destroy stuff simply because ur not there to catch it... and why? Because I could. What WOULD mean alot would be changing the mining laws where ur mine is federally protected from ANY trespassers and there can be recourse... OR... Just start allowing Patenting again where mine owners can privatize and protect Thier mine sites.
@@user-jk1dh2zi7h oh absolutely we have private property laws... BUTTTT... They don't pertain to BLM administered lands. If you have mines on BLM lands you can't post No Trespassing signs anywhere on your claims, not even at your mine workings. Only signs you CAN post is the 'KEEP OUT' signs which really holds no significance when it comes to the laws. That's why I said they need to change the mining laws so that the mine owners have recourse against trespassers , thieves and vandalists.
@@dawnac6453Rather than reallowing patenting which converts the full fee title from the US to private ownership IMO some sort of federal leasing program, similar to what most states have in place for state owned lands, would be more practical. It would allow folk to explore for minerals and exploit them if there are economic amounts while paying a reasonable royalty and allowing the operator to exclude trespassers from the actual workings. There would have to be reclamation standards but that is already in place through state laws on federal, state, or private land. A leasing program would probably be similar for what is done today for federally owned oil, gas, and coal. Where it can get interesting is when there is a split estate where the surface is privately owned but the mineral, or some of them, are still owned by the feds. Various versions of the Homestead Acts retained some or all of the minerals with the federal government. This often comes as a real surprise to surface owners to learn that someone can come onto their property and, say, drill for oil or gas and produce it if it is found. Even before they stopped processing applications for patents it was a long, involved, and very expensive process. Proving that there are economic quantities of minerals takes a lot of expertise and expense, e.g. drilling programs and assays to define an ore body and lots of expert reports. It was never easy (at least in the mid-late 20th century). I worked on several projects where this was considered, and they were good size operations, and it was always decided that it was not worth the time, effort , and money. The company could still extract the minerals on an unpatented claim and the residual value of the property after the minerals were extracted didn't justify the patenting expense. I won't get into examples of folk trying to patent a mining claim not to extract minerals but to get cheap real estate for development in, say, a national forest or even for a cabin site.
Do you deal a lot with old miners getting mad that a woman with red hair none the less, is entering the mines? I know that is two major superstitions in mining.
Hello Elley, would you be interested in coming to New Mexico. I have a fluorite claim in truth or consequences New Mexico. Could see my claim by day and you and your husband could hit the hot mineral baths at night. Let me know. Oh and it green fluorite. 😊
@ElleyKnowsRocks Utah has a couple of areas with hot springs. Also, have you ever been to Devil's Slide? It is a really cool rock formation. The area around the slide has awesome features as well. Utah has fossils and several mines, I did security on the Park City silver mine while they built a museum and adventure down in the mine. They no longer mine for silver but can restart if it becomes feasible. I have collected rocks since I was young and now and then I'll find something interesting. Rocks, crystals and petrified wood. Dad had this bag of iron pyrite in the closet, still there when he died at 86 years old. When we were moving my husband picked up a box and commented "this is heavy, what do you have in it rocks!" I had no choice but to say yes I do. He didn't believe me at first, but the joke was on him.😂😂 copied from another video 2 years old.
That is such a nice claim with so many different minerals! , even if some of them might not come in great quantities u can get so much cool stuff from there! im so jealous xD
