Prospecting & Detecting
All About Trommels and Screens for Placer Gold Recovery
May 2022 by Chris Ralph
The right speed accumulates only the heavy materials and allows all of the lighter stuff to flow through. This optimum speed is dependent on the size of the gravel you need to move through the system.
Prospecting The East Fork San Gabriel Canyon, Southern California
I have found gold more than 200 feet above the river. It was not unusual for nuggets of an ounce or more to be found in these deposits, but fine gold and flakes are much more common.
Fortymile, Alaska Prospecting Adventure
Some creeks have nuggets, while others, particulary the rivers, nothing but fine gold.
The Highs and Lows of Drywashing
We were met with a plethora of mechanical problems with the dry washer and even a few with the excavator that were at times frustrating, but we were in this for the long haul, so we needed to solve these problems and move forward.
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.
Speed Prospecting for Hard Rock Gold
An online video gave me some ideas, and with a lot of trial and error I developed a reliable method of panning free gold particles down below 35 microns quickly and easily.
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.
Excavator Testing Wet Placer Ground
The excavator or backhoe has become the tool of choice for testing placer ground. These machines are the best way to explore and sample a placer deposit if the ground is not too wet or frozen and bedrock is not beyond the reach of the machine.
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The Bawl Mill
• Legislative and Regulatory Update
• Ask The Experts - How are gold veins formed?
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• What To Do With All That Gold?
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• Judge Orders FBI to Produce Records on Civil War Gold Hunt
• Strategies for Detecting Heavily Pounded Areas—Pt II
• Auburn, California
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• Melman on Gold & Silver
• Mining Stock Quotes and Mineral & Metal Prices
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