Mining your own stragetic materials.

[Three Hawks]

Arrighty then, does anyone here know how to find out what metals and minerals were mined in one's locale and who to ask if it's ok to grub some out for personal use.   I'm thinkin' galena (lead) and coal.

I know in Washington, especially Western Wa. that there are deposits of lead, silver, gold, steatite (soapstone) and coal near or on the surface.  They just aren't concentrated enough to make commercial recovery profitable.  

I know where there's a small scale soapstone quarry and the owner is amenable to private persons taking small quantities of loose soapstone rubble for personal use.   It would be a lot of fun to make a ball mold of soapstone, then use a ball of lead you'd  hand mined  then cast in the mold you'd made from stone  you'd quarried to take game you'd then eat.

Hand mining some coal to forge useful items and melt your hand mined lead with would be right up there near the top of  the satisfaction meter as well.

How about it,................ anyone?

Three Hawks

[Mike Ameling]

In many cases, you will be dealing with privately owned land.  That will initially hamper your search, and then getting permission after you locate a source.  People will always be wary of you "using" the materials for personal profit.

If you go to the local County records, you can often find mineral deposits in them - as in contracts/deeds for the mineral rights on property.  Or in the original geographical surveys of the area.

Here in NE Iowa, we had an operating iron mine near Waukon.  It ran up into the 1950's.  Over along the Mississippi River there are deposits of lead.  The Dubuque/Galena/Platville area is known for their lead mines.  But in the woods near Harper's Ferry there is the remains of a Shot Tower - so a source of lead would have been nearby.

Parts of southern Iowa have a coal seam running through them.  It is only a couple feet thick, and only a couple feet down in the ground.  Not enough for commercial mining/recovery.  But you can find areas along roads where that coal seam shows up in the cut banks of the ditches.

And over by Marquette/McGregor, there are large salt deposits in the bluffs.  The one company operating down near Clayton has huge mines running back into the bluffs.  They drive whole semi-tractor trucks/trailers back into them - for miles.  Right now most of those old tunnels are used for storage - as in grain or road sand/salt for the roads in winter.  But it was a huge deposit.

I have been pondering getting ahold of some of the iron ore and smelting out some small amounts - and then forging up some tools from it.  Mostly for the experience.

As I said, the big problem is dealing with private land/property.

But it also brings to mind a philosophy a friend kind of lives by: "It is often easier to ask forgiveness than to get permission."

Just a few humble thoughts to share.  Take them as such.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

[BEAVERMAN]

Gerry, coal can be had around flaming geyser state park or out in the Wilkersonm, Carbonado area ,as far as lead have no clue