Diary of a Diamond Prospector

April 2017 by W. Dan Hausel

Gold Placers of Nevada

October 2022

Ancestral Yuba River Placer Gold Deposits

November 2020

The small-scale miner has reasonable opportunity to exploit some of these small, rich placer gold deposits. 

Detecting Old Pocket Diggings

February 2013
Looking around, I could tell that this was an old hand-digging. As I walked around the perimeter of the digging I could see shovel and pick marks scratched on the clean, hard clay and bedrock.

Diary of a Diamond Prospector

April 2017
I couldn’t wait to get started. With no field budget, an assay budget of $100/year, a 1975-Ford Bronco that was a road hazard, a gas card, a topo map and full support of the director, I headed to the State Line district near Tie Siding along US Highway 287 to begin mapping kimberlite.

Mother Lode Leaf Gold

July 2011
After removing about six inches of dirt and cobbles, the sound was a bit more recognizable. I was now confident that there was a definite target and not just a ground noise.

Time for a New Approach: Detecting Float Gold

September 2013
The first pieces found were in a spot that most gold hunters would not even detect, right in the middle of a downslope meadow.

2015 World Gold Panning Championships

October 2015
Every Spanish village seems to hold their pride in one unique area of expertise. Pamplona has its bulls, Barcelona its architecture, and gold panning belongs to Navelgas.

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