On my final prospecting day of 2020, I went up to a spot where I had found gold years before and had my best day of  the year—four nuggets for nearly one-quarter-ounce of gold.

I am learning more about gold deposition in this area than I knew previously. I am passing this information on with the hope that many of you will be able to locate patches and lines a little easier in the future because of this article.

You find yourself with a bucketful of concentrates that you have accumulated over the season and consider the logical next step: to reduce the bucket of cons to a gold bar. Where do you begin?

This same concept is true of many of our modern-day rivers, and we have to find out where their gold originated if we can.

Black diamonds, also known as carbonado, are extremely rare, and are found naturally only in Brazil and Central Africa. The cosmic origin theory is based on their carbon isotopes and high hydrogen content.

This article will hopefully provide a few constructive hints on how to use your downtime during the cold winter and the wet spring to best prepare for the upcoming nugget-hunting season.