I came across this article and thought it may be of interest. Essentially talks about the beginnings of Homestake – selective mining, gravity separation etc
Quote “Not being major enterprises with large industrial footprints, long permitting periods, and high capital costs, these businesses (Gold) can be developed incrementally from ongoing cash flows, substantially reducing the risk to investors. In the “good old days” this scale of development was the rule rather than the exception and most of the world’s major gold camps were discovered and developed on this basis over a century ago.”
here's the link if you're at a loose end – you might have to copy and past this into your browser address bar
