Otis E. YoungCritiques

This is not a book for the casual reader, although any one who even glanced at the cover would probably be able to discern this! It does a very thorough job of informing the reader about how mining for precious metals was done, right from the prospecting through digging, blasting, tunneling, removing the ore, milling and finally preparing the metal for shipment. There is also some history about different famous mines in the American West and of the various gold and silver rushes and the people who were drawn to them. The book has a more technical bent to it, but the author never lapses into an academic style; he seeks to not only inform but entertain. The book is not intended to be comprehensive regarding mining equipment nor techniques, but upon completion the reader will have a general understanding of precious metal mining in both history and method.