Prospecting & Detecting
A Break in the Weather
May 2017 by Jack Geck
Back at the entry point of the mine, we took turns slowly crawling down the slope leading into the mine portal with our metal detectors, hard hats and flashlights. The mine was hand dug and is about 75 yards long.
An Alaskan in the Lower 48
Our destination was some old hydraulic workings where the old miners had washed literally mountains of material away to expose gold in ancient river channels.
Volume is the Key to Success
While recovery rates are important, they must necessarily be secondary to the volume of material processed. Running more material at lower recovery rates is generally preferable to increasing the efficiency of the system.
Hunting Down Paystreaks
When I teach people about finding gold, I often explain that it is helpful to think of any river or stream that carries gold as being something like a sluice box.
Ask The Experts
Can a metal detector be used to find limonitic gossan material?
Modesto, California Man Finds 18-Ounce Nugget
Oscar Espinoza considers himself an amateur gold prospector, but the gold nugget he recently found puts many seasoned prospectors to shame.
One Potato, Two Potato...
Normally the detector he was using would sound off with a definitive high-to-low tone when passed over a piece of gold, which distinguished the gold from the many high iron content "hot rocks," but this one was different...
Following the Clues
It took me awhile before I finally got a nice mellow signal. My nugget turned out to weigh in about two dwt (pennyweight). Over the next few hours, we all picked up a few more nuggets apiece.
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• Shaker Tables for Processing Hard Rock Ores
• Becoming a Successful Detectorist
• Hand Panning Micro-Fine Gold
• Sampling, Hydro-Shocking & Cleaning Quartz-Gold Specimens
• My Lucky Thirteen Nuggets
• Crushing, Grinding and Pulverizing
• From the Editor
• Prospecting Knowledge -- Pass It On!
• Melman on Gold & Silver
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• Over The Divide: Miles John Mitchell
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