If I knew where you were coming from I could comment. There are always truth and lies where ever you look and circumstance proves much and little at the same time.
An amateur may get lucky if he works hard. Prospectors follow a narrow and persistent path, and often because of their ubiquity, numbers and practical arduous application seem successful far past the measure of their achievements in academia. Some prospectors have good science behind them, and good eyes to follow it up. They are also quite persistent where the more cursory minds skip details. But in the end a good application of the learned principles should breed rewards.
I don't think you can easily judge the professional geologist or compare him or his track record to the prospector here and there who gets associated with a mine. They have different imperatives. It really matters how much money you can scare up and how it is applied to the clues you can find. Couple that with sagaciousness borne of long experience and extraordinary good look and you might have the makings of a discovery.
Thayer Lindsley was extraordinarily concentrated and hard working. He was very learned in geology, especially structural, although he never earned a degree. He also had millions and millions behind him to keep looking. he could take the measure of property owners and quickly acquire land cheaply. He explored mining properties by the day where others would take years to get the wherewithal to gear up. In the end he found some 130 mines worldwide. I know a few other mine finders who I was personally acquainted with, and they all had one thing in common. They knew economics of mining, they had a voluminous knowledge of geology and they thought things through like detectives. They were not stupid and what they would look at in an outcrop most people would not even guess at. Rocks were their passion and they never let go. It follows that if you make a study of things, you can break through in understanding and leave the rest of the world far behind. But if you leave them too far you will never have the means to prove your case.
I saw that in some people. Brilliant, but the masses never saw it. All you get is jealousy, carping and criticism. I liken it to a someone who could look at a field and see all the land mines buried, but could never tell his fellow soldiers that he knew where to step. How could he?
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