Prospecting & Detecting
A Long Dry Spell
October 2015 by Don Robinson
Just three weeks ago one of our prospecting team members decided to go back to this location on his own. He had a new detector and wanted to try it out some.
A Family Quest for Gold
Back at our campsite, while the rest of us grabbed a late four o’clock lunch, Fallyn volunteered to do the clean-up panning.
What Equipment Do I Need?
Getting started in prospecting often requires the purchase of some equipment, but one can spend as little as $10 and be finding gold or spend thousands and also be finding gold—yet you will probably have many more opportunities and possibilities with more and better equipment.
Revisiting the Rocker Box
The first location we worked was a small, dry ravine cutting through many mineralized zones in an area where some hard rock mining had taken place in the past.
Falcon Fanatic: Journey of a Novice Detectorist
My first day using my pinpointer I detected an area where the fellas’ big guns had swooped in and cleaned up all the “big gold” and I got over sixty tiny pieces of gold.
Strategies for Detecting Heavily Pounded Areas
The problem is every other nugget hunter and drywash prospector had the same idea. As a result, you can spend days, weeks, and even months detecting these areas and not find a single nugget.
Determining the Amount of Gold in Rich Ores
This is just the type of specimen that could have been easily ignored by the old-time miners. It felt a little heavier in my hand than a chunk of quartz of that size ought to have been.
Finding Gold Beyond Your Detector
The lesson of keeping one’s eyes open to other possibilities is one of the great secrets of successful prospecting. Prospectors need to always be on the lookout for opportunities.
Subscription Required:
The Bawl Mill
• Legislative and Regulatory Update
• Ask The Experts
• The Bucking Room
• Prospectors Protest San Gabriel Mountains National Monument
• MMAC & PLP Update
• Where Should I Start?
• California State Gold Panning Championships
• From Curiosity to Mine Owner - Pt II
• 2016 Gold Prospecting and Mining Summit
• Growing Up Gold
• Rock and Formations of the Mother Lode Gold Belt
• 2015 World Gold Panning Championships
• Melman on Gold & Silver
• Mining Stock Quotes and Mineral & Metal Prices
