Is there gold in “them thar hills?”

You probably remember your American history lesson on the California Gold Rush of 1849. Soon after the initial discovery of gold by James Marshall, word got out and the rush was on as thousands of men, women, and children began migrating to California from points east, north, south, and even from across the Pacific Ocean.

These early prospectors were called “forty-niners” (in reference to the year 1849) and all had dreams of becoming millionaires. Some found great wealth, others returned home empty-handed. It’s analogous to present-day success stories: One might recognize the great innovators and prospectors of our time as being a new breed of “forty-niner;” perhaps they could become known as “two-thousand-niners.” Could abandoned mine sites of western Pennsylvania become destinations for today’s gold diggers?

Gold might not be in the hills of western Pennsylvania, but something worth its weight is: Manganese and iron oxide.

Just ask potter Bob Isenberg. Isenberg uses manganese and iron oxide recovered from acid mine drainage in some of the glazes for his pottery. And with help and guidance from Tom Grote, project facilitator with Clean Creek Products – a sub-division of Mars-based Stream Restoration Inc. – Isenberg has created a unique blend of glaze that enhances his pottery and sets it apart as a Western Pennsylvania exclusive.

Pottery has a long history and dates back thousands of years. Some of the earliest pieces are from the Czech Republic. A figurine discovered there has been aged at 25,000 to 29,000 years. Glazes containing manganese and iron oxides that are used in pottery-making have been around almost as long, but until recently these minerals were never extracted from acid mine drainage. Normally, manganese and iron oxide are mined from sites in Indiana, Montana, Michigan and other states.

Isenberg, who turns clay into unique artwork at the Pottery Dome in Springfield Township, has been using four different mixes of glazing compounds that contain manganese and iron oxide collected and recovered from passive treatment systems for acid mine runoff within the Slippery Rock Creek Watershed (SRCW). This “mining” process takes a negative mining byproduct – the manganese and iron oxides – and turns it into something used to create works of art.

Acid mine drainage is an ongoing environmental concern in Pennsylvania. Streams and creeks within the SRCW are still being affected by nasty chemicals in water seeping from abandoned mines. Stream Restoration Inc. constructs specialized passive treatment systems, which clean the manganese and iron oxide from polluted streams. These systems are making an impact and are beginning to restore sections of waterways that were once so polluted they couldn’t sustain aquatic life.

These treatment systems are also capable of “storing” manganese and iron oxide until they are cleaned and/or removed from filtering agents. Filtering agents include vertical flow pond systems, man-made wetlands and a special “wash dump” where manganese is allowed to collect.

It’s SRI’s collection process that allows Bob Isenberg and Tom Grote to create special recipes for glazes made from dried manganese: Vertical flow ponds are lined with limestone rock – much like that found in driveways – and mushroom compost, considered by landscape professionals to be a top grade soil additive. The limestone acts as a sponge for the manganese. After a period of years, it gets cleaned with a flip-screen bucket. This cleaning process releases the manganese and allows the limestone to be re-used.

“There were only five (flip-screen buckets) in the world at the time we purchased ours,” Grote said.

To collect the manganese, a hoe operator scoops limestone into a specially-designed rotating bucket. The limestone is submerged into a wash dump and the flip-screen bucket rotates. Centrifugal force prevents the limestone from falling out as it tumbles, and the manganese is “washed” from the limestone.

“We build a pond (wash dump) with a plastic liner, and as it flips in the water it’s washing the rocks,” Grote said.

Once the washing process is complete, the dump pond water is pumped into filtering bags. The water slowly seeps out, leaving behind slushy, wet manganese. The bags are then tied, numbered and marked with identifying characteristics, and stored. The manganese collected in these tote bags is dried and tested for mineral content.

SRI was able to find a way to recover the metals from these filtration systems after it received a grant from the Department of Environmental Protection’s Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation.