Prospecting & Detecting
Ancestral Yuba River Placer Gold Deposits
November 2020 by David Lawler
The small-scale miner has reasonable opportunity to exploit some of these small, rich placer gold deposits.
Gold Detecting—Are You Up For It?
“What does it take to get into gold detecting?” This may seem like a simple question, but the more I hear it, the more I realize it is a frequent question that needs to be answered.
Prospecting Tales: Forest Service, Fires and Bears—Oh My!
I woke up on Sunday morning, August 10, to heavy smoke. I saw where it was coming from, but it seemed like it was a long way off so I thought I was okay for the time being.
Uphill Battle Continues for California Dredgers
There are currently three controlling agencies or entities over suction dredging in California—and you can make that four if the state legislature decides to further muddy the waters with additional legislation to block suction gold dredging in the state.
Detecting Alone -- What to Look For

Practical Advice for Milling Hard Rock Ores
The problem is that extracting gold from hard rock is often a lot more difficult than processing placer gravels. Still, there is some very high-grade ore out there in many old mining areas.
Chasing Hard Rock Gold As A Placer Deposit
The question I had, and likely you have too, is when an old channel is cut, how far does the placer gold in the cut channel move down in a river or creek that continues to erode deeper and deeper?
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