Riches to Rust: A Guide to Mining in the Old West

Twitty devotes more attention to the "surface plant." See Meyerriecks' Drills and Mills (0-9714383-0-7) for fuller description of the underground works. Intended to acquaint the casual explorer with the basics includes an appendix that identifies parts and their uses but the history & depth of detail will charm the hardest hearted of hard-rock miners. Very extensive bibliography. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Eric Twitty became interested in mining history at the early age of seven, and during the following several decades made extensive trips to mining districts throughout the West in search of physical evidence and fact to compare against the numerous related books he read. Eric completed a MA degree in 1999 in American History emphasizing mining in the West, and started a consulting business researching, recording, analyzing, and evaluating the remains of historic mines in Colorado, where he resides.