Back to Basics--Finding Gold With a Pan and a Sluice

April 2019 by Chris Ralph

Don’t hunker down and just keep digging in one spot where there is very little or no gold—if you don’t find it, you’ve got to get up and move on!

The Story Behind the Story

March 2013
Anyone who has found a patch knows the difficulties involved. Those who haven’t can guess, and with any effort will soon realize it.

First Gold

July 2023

Libby, Montana Prospectors Keep Tradition Alive

September 2021

Located 23 miles south of Libby, the land surrounding the Libby Creek area has been of interest to prospectors since the early 1860s, when it was home to up to 600 miners working at a camp known as Libbysville.

The Subsurface Suction Dredge

November 2013
The problems of the submersible dredge tube are addressed by the subsurface dredge, where the enclosed sluice recovery tube is suspended from a flotation assembly...

Swing and a Miss

July 2014
A very good baseball hitter might get a hit roughly one time out of every three at-bats, but for prospectors often the results are much sparser and it may take many trips before the prospector hits a home run.

Still Gold in Humbug, Arizona

August 2012
Has anyone made it through childhood, or even adulthood, without at least one dream of finding gold or buried treasure? It is the stuff of daydreams—the kindling for the flame of hope. We so long for it that we eagerly accept stories and maps from friends and strangers alike that promise us fame and fortune.

Addressing EPA Overreach: What Dredgers Need to Know

March 2016

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been attempting to extend their authority and intimidate miners and other public land users for decades. Suction gold dredgers are no exception, and we want to highlight a recent example of how to deal with this federal overreach.

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