Briefs

By Jack Lifton, 27 Feb 2006

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. (ResourceInvestor.com) -- Although commercial mining companies in general and sellers of precious metals for personal �investment,� in particular, do not like to have it widely known, a growing number of dedicated recreational mining �amateurs,� who have professional backgrounds in geology, metallurgy, mining engineering, cartography, economics and, interestingly enough, finance, are constructing a remarkable �open� database on the Internet from the vast store of, until now, widely dispersed, contemporary as well as historical records directly or indirectly reporting on American prospecting and mining that are in the public domain.

The two most prominent Internet sites that give the most comprehensive lists of mine locations by longitude and latitude, current availability (i.e., whether the mine is owned and/or operated currently or is available to be claimed having been �abandoned� by the rules of the BLM), and mineral composition are:

1. http://www.mindat.org
2. www.theweekendminer.com

The search for gold and silver in America appears to have been comprehensive, but, in fact, it has been haphazard to a degree that it will be of value to go over most of the �abandoned� locations again.

Here is the rest of the story.