Copyright © 2005 by Ana Minerva Bonilla                                     October 15, 2005 22:35

Reprinted by permission at http://theweekendminer.com

THE WEEKEND MINER

Rediscovering American Mineral Resources

THOUGHTS FROM THE “OLD MINER”

In our earlier columns we said if you have an idea to improve the site let us know, and you did. With all of the GPS coordinates available on the site, we have received requests to put them to work. The main request we got was to come up with a way to map the area using the GPS coordinates. Well, we looked around and found a site that will allow you to input latitude and longitude coordinates and get a topographic map of the area. Remember, in the Western Hemisphere, longitude is preceded by a minus or negative (-) sign. If you forget, and you are looking for a mine in California, you will likely end up somewhere in Western China. (I found this out myself.) Here is the Terraserver Link from Microsoft®

http://terraserver.microsoft.com

I have always said the second most important item a miner can have, after water, is a good map. We are also looking for a good GPS equipment supplier. As soon as we have them they will also be loaded. This may also be a way to generate a little revenue, to help offset the costs of the site; it has turned out to be a bit more costly than we thought.

Any suggestions as to the best map supplier and/or GPS company to include on the page?

We must all realize what happens when a country allows its own industry to die and has to rely on imports for its needs. Its only choices are to produce its   own or to pay and continue to pay higher prices. Unless some of you small miners can find additional domestic supplies, we will all continue to suffer higher prices and the loss of American wealth and technology.