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Prospecting is the act of searching for mineral, ore, or fuel deposits, typically oil, coal, iron, uranium, and other materials used extensively in modern industry. Prospecting can be undertaken by individuals (prospectors) or corporations.
Early prospecting
In the United States and Canada prospectors were lured by the promise of gold, silver, and other precious metals. They travelled across the mountains of the American West, carrying picks, shovels, gold pans, and whatever else they would need. The early search for petroleum required drilling holes that might indicate an underground supply of oil. Other prospectors searched canyons and mountain peaks, hardly leaving a rock unturned while looking for wealth. The majority of early prospectors had no training and relied mainly on luck to discover deposits.
Modern prospecting
Modern prospectors today rely on training, the study of geology, and prospecting technology.
Knowledge of previous prospecting in an area helps in determining location of new prospective areas. Prospecting includes geological mapping, rock assay analysis, and sometimes the intuition of the prospector.
Instruments play a large role in gathering geological data. Instruments are used in geophysical surveys to check for variations in gravity, magnetism, electromagnetism and a number of different other variables in a certain area. Geiger counters and scintillometers are used to determine the amount of radioactivity. Ultraviolet lamps may cause certain minerals to give off a different color. Airborne magnetometers are used to search for magnetic anomalies in the Earth's crust. The anomalies are an indication of concentrations of iron minerals and associated metals.
Chemistry is also used in prospecting. The presence of some chemical elements may indicate the presence of a certain mineral. Chemical analysis of rocks and plants may indicate the presence of an underground deposit. For instance elements like arsenic and antimony are associated with gold deposits and hence, are example pathfinder elements. Often, prospecting and exploration in general requires a little creativity. Tree buds can be sampled for pathfinder elements in order to help locate deposits.
See also
"Prospecting"