Talk:Prospecting

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Prospecting is included in the 2006 Wikipedia CD Selection, or is a candidate for inclusion in the next version. Please maintain high quality standards and, if possible, stick to GFDL-compatible images.

Ok, I laid a lot down on the article, but I belive it is a topic that is interesting and can become a very good encyclopedia entry. Specifically, it could use:

• the similarities and differences of prospecting for each of the various major items pursued, including, but not limited to,:
  • coal
  • water
  • iron ore
  • aluminum (or aluminium for our British friends)
  • petroleum
  • natural gas
  • copper
  • uranium
  • diamond
  • gold
  • silver, etc.
• more examples from history. For instance, the part on coal could mention Native American tribes utilizing outcroppings of coal or British combing the seaside cliffs for coal deposits
• non-U.S. examples, both modern and historical
• examples of companies engaged in prospecting and/or famous individual prospectors
• elaboration on the "instruments" and methodologies used in prospecting
• discussion of how prospecting has evolved over the years, from things like divining rods to GPS and beyond

That list is not comprehensive by any means, but if you feel you can contribute on any of these areas (or others I have failed to mention) please do. - IstvanWolf 19:34, 7 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Mineral exploration

Do you think that there should be a distinction between prospecting, in the hobby or amateur sense, and mineral exploration, which seeks to find large economic ore deposits? I certainly do, and it would substantially simplify the task of improving this article because, basically, there is fuck all in common between the two. Few, if any, mineral explorers sieve stream sediments looking for gold and few prospectors take soil samples or fly aeromagnetics as a hobby on weekends.

I therefore propose we restrict the usage of prospecting to the pick and shovel and pan kind, and move the rest over to mineral exploration. Rolinator 08:04, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

Wikepedia editors, please let me know if you consider the photo illustration of a prospector to be appropriate for this article. I'll be glad to pull if not. Fishdecoy 15:14, 30 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Prospecting

I am sure prospecting is different in different parts of the world and even Canada and the United States. Our family including my father, mother, two sisters, brother, and myself, all make a good living prospecting in Northwestern Ontario. We know the same type of prospecting goes on all across Canada. Most people think prospecting no longer exists, but it does and there is a shortage for prospectors in the mineral exploration industry. Perhaps the ignorance to prospecting explains the shortage of prospectors. In Ontario, prospecting is done to find economic minerals in bedrock (precious metals, base metals, rare earth metals). Our job consists of staking claims, collecting rock samples, soil sampling, trench work (washing, sawing, sampling), occasionally geological mapping, occasionally geophysical surveys. We use modern equipment: GPS's, radios, laptops, satellite phones, computer programs. We also use age-old hammers, axes, compass, and a lot of hard work walking through the bush! The modern prospector is in high demand as people with bush experience are hard to find. It's the people walking through the bush, physically on the ground, that have found the major operating mines in Ontario. To read more about prospecting from our perspective: http://www.wildernesswalkabouts.com/prospector.htmlJessBjork 16:50, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

Great link - I've added it to the article as an external link. Please feel welcome to edit and improve the article. Thanks, Vsmith 00:31, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

User:JessBjork is right. Prospecting is still done all over the world by professional prospectors, not only in a hobby-fashion way. I have done this kind of work myself for a couple of years in South-America, although not es an entrepreneur, but as an employee for mining companies. This article should be modified and enlarged accordingly. Besides, why is this article called "Prospecting"? Shouldn't it be "Mineral prospection", analogous to "Mineral exploration"? (The term Prospection is already used in psychology ...)

Greets, Geoz 20:47, 31 January 2007 (UTC)