Perhaps the most notable thing about skim placers is that they form on the top surface of gravel bars, as opposed to coarser gold placers where the weight of the gold particles allows the gold to settle down on or near bedrock.

Q: I am looking for a “trommel machine” that doesn’t separate anything but clay slurry from rock hard clay.

Fast forward to present day and the XRF has come of age. Pull the trigger on the hand-held device and you get a nearly instant assay of the surface of a rock.

…the process remains much the same: Drill holes, load explosives, close up the holes, blast and muck out the resulting broken rock.

Every year I go through this and every year it becomes more difficult to find new territory that is available for us to prospect. Is there anywhere that hasn’t been worked?

Once you get down to the black sands or a few tablespoons of material, the technique changes dramatically.