Prospecting & Detecting
Ask the Experts
September 2014 by Chris Ralph
• Using drywashers to work desert gravelsSierra County Gold—Part II

More on Detecting Pocket Gold
What I hope to do here is to give you some information that will help you, the reader, pick out locations that will be better for you to detect and give you a possibility of finding gold.
Mining for Gemstones and Mineral Specimens

Iowa Hill District
For the last two years we’ve held a hands-on prospectors training session in the Iowa Hill district of California’s Mother Lode country as a part of our Gold Prospecting and Mining Summit event. Because of this, I thought it might be good to take a look at the history, geology and opportunities that the Iowa Hill district still offers to the individual prospector.
Proven Strategies for Detecting Gold
I’m sure we all have, at some point in time, gone out detecting and ended up not having the success we thought we would have. Here are some helpful game-changers that work for me and may work for you, as well.
Gold in Unlikely Places—And 'Eating Crow'
The red dot on the diagram points out where the gravels there were also carrying, but not as much color. The gold was sparse below the point indicated.
Sampling Placer Stockpiles

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