About Us - Our Writer

David Knowlen combines his interest as a journalist with another of his passions, a nearly thirty year involvement in small-scale, independent gold mining. He has written about his many mining experiences prospecting in California, Oregon and Washington wilderness regions and he is as experienced at swinging a metal detector in central Arizona or in working with others on a common operation in northern Canada. 

David was educated at the University of Washington and has been a mechanical engineer and a project director for an aerospace company.  David's articles and photographs have been published in over a dozen magazines and periodicals. His articles written a few years back on gold dredging in extremely remote and challenging locations on the Klamath River in the Siskiyou Mountains earned him journalism honors.

With his years of experience, David has an extensive knowledge of underwater mining processes, specifically suction dredging, and his engineering background has helped him become an expert on mining equipment design and related technology development.  Today he is a consultant for a major dredging equipment manufacturer.