What is Lode Gold?
Lode Gold
Lode gold occurs within the solid rock in which it was deposited. Areas likely to contain valuable lode deposits of gold have been explored so thoroughly that the inexperienced prospector without ample capital has little chance of discovering a new lode worth developing. Most future discoveries of workable lode gold ore probably will result from continued investigations in areas known to be productive in the past. The districts in which such new discoveries of gold may be possible are too numerous to be listed in detail in this pamphlet. Some of the famous districts are: in California, the Alleghany, Sierra City, Grass Valley, and Nevada City districts, and the Mother Lode belt; in Colorado, the Cripple Creek, Telluride, Silverton, and Ouray districts; in Nevada, the Goldfield, Tonopah, and Comstock districts; in South Dakota, the Lead district in the Black Hills; and in Alaska, the Juneau and Fairbanks districts. Deposits in these districts generally are gold-quartz lodes.Prospecting for lode deposits of gold is not the relatively simple task it once was because most outcrops or exposures of mineralized rock have been examined and sampled. Today's prospector must examine not only these exposures, but also broken rock on mine dumps and exposures of mineralized rock in accessible mine workings. Gold, if present, may not be visible in the rock, and detection will depend on the results of laboratory analyses. Usually, samples of 3 to 5 pounds of representative mineralized rock will be sent to a commercial analytical laboratory or assay office for assay. Obviously, knowledge about the geological nature of gold deposits and particularly of the rocks and deposits in the area of interest will aid the prospector.
There are many publications of interest to those seeking more information about gold. The following list is representative. Anyone contemplating a prospecting venture or mining operation should consult some or all of these and other publications as well to become better informed on this fascinating and challenging subject. Many papers, maps, and articles on gold and related heavy metals were published on the results of investigations conducted in the mid- to late-1960's by the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Bureau of Mines. Titles and instructions for ordering many of these appear in the publication catalogs of each agency. Some may be out of print but may be consulted in libraries of the two agencies, and in many city, college, and university libraries.
Information is from http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/prospect2/prospectgip.html