Using GoogleEarth and the USGS mineral database to find prospecting areas

[Joanne]

Hi all,

Although I'm new to the site and prospecting, I always try to contribute to the forums that I'm on. I came upon prospecting from a different direction than many of you, abandoned mine exploring. My friends and I find and explore old mine workings. We use old maps, Google Earth, and any other resource we can find to locate abandoned mines to explore.

I apologize if this has already been covered, but I didn't find it in a search of the forum.

That leads me to the topic this post, the USGS Mineral Resources Data System. Their website allows you to search for mine sites, specify the type of mineral being mined (think GOLD!), the type of working (surface, underground, placer) then download that list in various formats including KML/KMZ for Google Earth. The Google Earth format will create a waypoint for each mine in the file. Clicking on an individual waypoint will display a pop-up telling a little bit about the mine including the type of ore, type of working (underground, surface, placer), and whether it was a prospect or producing mine.

I keep hearing the adage to "look for gold where it's already been found". Well, old gold mines would seem to be a good starting point.

The process is actually pretty simple. For your first try I would suggest this process. Once you've succeeded at that, feel free to refine the parameters to get a list that meets your needs.

- go to Search the Mineral Resources Data System
- select your state from the list provided
- select 'gold' from the commodity list
- click on the 'search' button

At this point the search will occur and return a list of gold mines in the state. More importantly the screen will display a selection box that says, 'Choose Format'.

- click on the down arrow and from the selection list choose 'Google Earth'
- click on the 'Get Data' button

A new screen will be displayed with two choices. The first choice is a KML file named something like: mrds-Nevada-Gold-19.kml and a second choice with a file named something like: mrds-Nevada-Gold-19.kmz

- click on the file ending with '.kmz' (It is a compressed file and MUCH smaller than the KML file)
- save the file on your PC. Depending on the browser the file may automatically downloaded, or you my be given the option of opening the file in Google Earth or saving it on your PC.

Clicking on a file with a KML and KMZ extension will automatically open the file in Google Earth so it's easy to store the file on your PC and open it whenever you want to research your next outing.

For those of you who are a bit more tech savy, you can download the file in .CSV format and use a scripting language like Python to create very specific KML files or GPX files for your GPS. Since my GPS will only store 2,000 waypoints this was a necessity for me.

Joanne

 

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[CA Gold Hunter]

Thanks I'll have to check this out later

 

[KevinInColorado]

Welcome to tnet Joanne!

Good use of the available tools. How do you then check to see if the places you want to go are on private property or are federal mining claims?

 

[goldenIrishman]

Welcome to the asylum Joanne.

Another tool you might want to check out for hunting down your quarry is the "My land matters" site. Our own Clay Diggens came up with it and it's a fantastic tool. It covers the western states in great detail and is updated twice a month. The link to it is in my signature below. Take some time to explore the site and learn how to use the maps and it will open up a whole new data set for you to use.

Unless you're a qualified mining engineer, it's NEVER a good idea to enter any underground workings on these old mines. In most cases, these are some very dangerous places. Not all mines were shut down because they were played out. Some have toxic gas in them and can not be entered without breathing gear. I've been mining for a lot of years and even with my experience I don't go into old mines. It's just too dangerous.

 

[Joanne]

Welcome to tnet Joanne!

Good use of the available tools. How do you then check to see if the places you want to go are on private property or are federal mining claims?

As goldenIrishman pointed out, the mylandmatters.org website looks like an amazing resource. I want to spend more time poking around the site. The LR2000 database seems like good direct source of information. I found our claim there and the fact the the claims around us had lapsed. Of course I can always head for the county recorder's office.

The intent of my post was solely to share a resource that I have found useful. It's not a complete solution, just one more tool in the toolbox.

Joanne

 

[Joanne]

Welcome to the asylum Joanne.
Unless you're a qualified mining engineer, it's NEVER a good idea to enter any underground workings on these old mines. In most cases, these are some very dangerous places. Not all mines were shut down because they were played out. Some have toxic gas in them and can not be entered without breathing gear. I've been mining for a lot of years and even with my experience I don't go into old mines. It's just too dangerous.

Good advice. Mines are dangerous places without a doubt.

Joanne

 

[goldenIrishman]

Clay has a couple of tutorials on the site that cover how to use it. Take some time to watch them and you'll see just how good a job they did on the site. When you click on a section that has mines, a window will open up with all mines in that sector listed as well as links to their respective Lr2000 pages. MUCH easier the\an fighting the BLM interface.

If you have any questions feel free to ask here or send me a PM and I'll do what I can to help.

 

[chlsbrns]

The coordinates to many of the mines are incorrect. Get their coordinates for the cotton patch mine in NC and then search google earth for the mine. The usgs coordinates are off by about a mile. The mines are worth looking for if you can get the land owners permission. Many mines were covered up during the civil war and never reopened as the miners died in the war.

The usgs soil and stream sediment reports are much better. They take you right to the gold!

 

[OwenT]

How do you then check to see if the places you want to go are on private property or are federal mining claims?

I use caltopo.com a lot to check land status, sometimes the info is a little old but public land boundaries don't change to often. Just hover over the "USGS 7.5'" icon in the top right corner and turn on the "Land Management" layer.

 

[KevinInColorado]

I use caltopo.com a lot to check land status, sometimes the info is a little old but public land boundaries don't change to often. Just hover over the "USGS 7.5'" icon in the top right corner and turn on the "Land Management" layer.

Here in CO the county assessor so in most counties have good interactive maps online...

 

[Clay Diggins]

The coordinates to many of the mines are incorrect. Get their coordinates for the cotton patch mine in NC and then search google earth for the mine. The usgs coordinates are off by about a mile.

The MRDS from which this map is created includes two old government mines databases the MAS and the MILS.

Those two database's coordinates were in two different datum and different projections but the coordinates were treated as if they were the same datum and projection when they were joined to create the MRDS.

As a consequence almost all the coordinates are inaccurate. There are a lot of duplicates and many of the original input locations were only accurate to about 1/2 mile.

In my professional business I make maps that require a much greater accuracy than government mines data can provide. I do use the MRDS as a reference in that work and on the average I find that about 70% of the MRDS mines mapping is unusable for my purposes. Those 70% are off by more than 1/4 mile or contain duplicates or unreliable references. Researching and correcting the actual mine locations takes a considerable amount of time.

This mines data does have some value though. Many of the mines profiled have pretty extensive information on metals and minerals discovered as well as extended report references and links to more detailed information on the localized mineral groups found in the mine. The locations may be repetitive and inaccurate but the mine data itself is often very useful for miners. It's often the only real world report on the mine workings and production.

We present the same information already mapped and broken down by primary mined metals on our Land Matters Mines Maps.

If the Google Earth version allows you to access all 43 of the information fields as well as the links to more information it is probably just a matter of preference which map system you use. It's the same information either way. Normally I would caution about the inherit inaccuracy of Google Earth but the mines locations are so loose I doubt it matters much.

If all 43 fields and links aren't available on the Google Earth version and you are doing serious mines research I would suggest the Land Matters maps as they will give you all the information available.

Heavy Pans

 

[Joanne]

The MRDS from which this map is created includes two old government mines databases the MAS and the MILS.

Those two database's coordinates were in two different datum and different projections but the coordinates were treated as if they were the same datum and projection when they were joined to create the MRDS.

As a consequence almost all the coordinates are inaccurate. There are a lot of duplicates and many of the original input locations were only accurate to about 1/2 mile.

In my professional business I make maps that require a much greater accuracy than government mines data can provide. I do use the MRDS as a reference in that work and on the average I find that about 70% of the MRDS mines mapping is unusable for my purposes. Those 70% are off by more than 1/4 mile or contain duplicates or unreliable references. Researching and correcting the actual mine locations takes a considerable amount of time.

This mines data does have some value though. Many of the mines profiled have pretty extensive information on metals and minerals discovered as well as extended report references and links to more detailed information on the localized mineral groups found in the mine. The locations may be repetitive and inaccurate but the mine data itself is often very useful for miners. It's often the only real world report on the mine workings and production.

We present the same information already mapped and broken down by primary mined metals on our Land Matters Mines Maps.

If the Google Earth version allows you to access all 43 of the information fields as well as the links to more information it is probably just a matter of preference which map system you use. It's the same information either way. Normally I would caution about the inherit inaccuracy of Google Earth but the mines locations are so loose I doubt it matters much.

If all 43 fields and links aren't available on the Google Earth version and you are doing serious mines research I would suggest the Land Matters maps as they will give you all the information available.

Heavy Pans

Clay D,

Very impressive website you've developed. I've been a software developer for the last 35 years and was immediately impressed with the site. Nice graphics and a good user interface make for a pleasing user experience. Then there's the content. A great resource.

Although it is frowned upon here, I'm a mine explorer and we often search for new locations to visit and photograph. Being able to visually search an area on GoogleEarth works well for me. I explained how to download the KML file, but for my use I download the CSV file which contains all of the fields you refer to. Then I use Python to create my own KML file that displays a pop-up when I click on the mine. I populate the popup with those fields that I'm interested in. I also built a similar script to create a GPX file to download into my GPS for when I'm out in the desert.

Not trying to sound defensive, I was just trying to share a resource that I find useful. If anyone else finds it useful, then great. If not, then no harm was done.

Again, congratulations on a really nice website.

Joanne