Prospecting & Detecting
Advantages of Modern Prospectors
May 2013 by Jim Halloran
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.So, Where's The Gold?—Finding Gold Detectors Miss
We decided to run a detector over each piece. If we got a decent signal we placed the piece into a high-grade pile and the rest went into another pile to be worked on later. This high-grade pile wasn’t that large—maybe 25 pounds...
Southern Oregon's Illinois River—A Lesson in Sharing
Our theory was that a dredge would collect far more material in a shorter period of time, leaving us with ounces of gold every day.
Detector Brings New Life to An Old Lode Mine
…it was immediately evident the previous owner had not been using a detector. During just a few months of working the dumps part-time, he recovered gold in quartz specimens valued in excess of $40,000.
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.
Early Summer Mining in Wyoming
Old tailing piles extend for miles. There was still plenty of water flowing here, so WPA members set up highbankers at several settling ponds.
The Gold Of Horseshoe Bend
And we eventually reached gold. It was a winding crevice of beautiful white quartz lined with small nuggets and loaded with fine gold. There were flakes and small granular pieces—there had to be a hundred or more.
Putting Together A Small Free Gold Mill—Part II
There are many smaller old hard rock mines out there—more than you might think. There are some small hard rock properties that are even open to be claimed if one does the right amount of research to find them.
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The Bawl Mill
• Gold Rush in the Congo
• Find of a Lifetime
• All About Quartz—Part I
• Over the Divide
• Your Guide to Prospecting in Alaska
• Shallow Water Crevicing Can Bring Big Rewards
• A Father and Son Prospecting Adventure
• Home Office Deductions
• Searchers' Dreams
• Gold in Unlikely Places
• Melman on Gold & Silver
• Mining Stock Quotes and Mineral & Metal Prices
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• Angkor Gold's Cambodia Projects
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