Prospecting & Detecting
Alaskan Gold Adventure
December 2016 by Amanda Fitzhugh
In Chicken I had my first experience with the famous Alaska blue clay, sometimes called the blue layer. The blue layer is where the best fine gold was to be found.
Greenhorn Finds Gold in Colorado
Using a snuffer bottle to pick it out of the pan, he continued his panning efforts. He continued to find more yellowish stuff, but it wasn’t shiny like he thought gold should look.
Ask The Experts
Can a metal detector be used to find limonitic gossan material?
Mutiny on The Mason
We decided to check some spots that were pretty good to us on previous trips. The detector was deceptively simple with few buttons and auto-ground balance.
Pocket Gold
Once a seam is found it can be traced for miles in either direction. While you are tracing a clay line, you are looking for indicators. The indicators that I look for are ironstone, hematite, different color clays intermingled with the clay line, and a very iron-rich, brown gritty soil.
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.
Where Should I Start?
Digging in the right spots will produce excellent results, like this group of nuggets taken by the author while metal detecting during the last few months. The biggest nugget is over an ounce.
Heavy Glacial Rocks and Gold in the Midwest
Over the years, I've noticed a pattern in the type of rocks associated with the best gold deposits in Midwestern glacial gravel.
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The Bawl Mill
• Our Readers Say
• Ask the Experts: What type of wetsuit do I need?
• Prospector's Guide to Rock Breaking and Blasting
• MMAC Update
• Pros and Cons of Big Detector Coils
• Prospecting and Mining Old Mine Sites
• Detecting Strategies for Heavily Forested Areas
• Mining Districts and Community Outreach
• Learning the Game and the Power to Change It
• Central Idaho Federal Employees Back to Work With Local Help
• Mining Stock Quotes and Mineral & Metal Prices
• Melman on Gold & Silver
