Prospecting & Detecting
A Great Day On The Feather River
August 2015 by Tom Leftwich
Mike and Machael dug in just downriver of that boulder pile and right away found good color and a few small pickers.
Prospecting Hard Rock
We panned out maybe three gold pans of the material and we were shocked at the gold that was there. This rock appeared to be rich.
Advantages of Modern Prospectors
Modern-day placer miners have many advantages over the prospectors of the gold rush days. Our prospectors can reap many benefits from accumulated knowledge of the last 100 to 150 years, which is a long and impressive list.
Detecting Clay Seams
Because the old timers were so good at locating the better paying deposits—most of them along clay seams in this particular area—it makes good sense to try and locate these clay lines at old mining sites.
Using Geologic Publications to Discover Collecting Sites
I understand that a person without geological knowledge could be daunted reading a geological publication. You can pick out the good stuff from a geological publication without a lot of geological knowledge.
Ophir—Possibly the Best Kept Secret in Alaska!
...I decided to excavate the semi-frozen high-bank that was resting on a soft shale bedrock footing. Within three feet, I encountered an intrusive!
Cold Water Gold
It was June 2011, and my wife Fran and I with Grandson Lucas and good friend Ernie Cruz were attempting to get to our gold mining claim on the Middle Fork of the Feather River about ten miles from Quincy, California. Rain had poured down in the previous few days and the road in a large number of low places was under water. Following two hours of slugging through the mud...
Attention to Detail - Part II
Ditches almost always started in the high country and contoured the mountainsides, making a long drop, usually many miles away, to the goldfields. There are ditches in Trinity County that originate at seven and eight thousand feet in the Trinity Alps that carried water almost thirty miles.
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The Bawl Mill
• Ask The Experts
• Ask The Experts
• Detecting During Summer Heat
• Surviving The Boom and Bust Cycle
• Prospecting for Silver Deposits
• Give That Club Claim A Chance
• From Curiosity to Mine Owner
• Gold and Rare Earth Elements in New Mexico
• Will El Nino Move Gold for Miners and End California Drought?
• Melman on Gold & Silver
• Mining Stock Quotes and Mineral & Metal Prices
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• MMAC & PLP Update -- Rand Mining District Gets Organized
