Prospecting & Detecting
Buyer Beware! Counterfeit Metal Detectors
August 2013 by Chris Ralph
When I was recently in West Africa, I got to see and play with my first, phony, Chinese knock-off metal detector.Detecting Alluvial Bench Deposits -- Pt II

A Father and Son Prospecting Adventure
As I write this, I am still on a rush from taking my 9-year-old son, Jeffrey, prospecting for the first time this past weekend. It’s not that he hasn’t been along on numerous outings before: this is the first time that just the two of us went out for a day of drywashing and detecting under the desert sun.
Gold Dredging on Oregon's South Umpqua

Putting Together A Small Free Gold Mill—Part II
There are many smaller old hard rock mines out there—more than you might think. There are some small hard rock properties that are even open to be claimed if one does the right amount of research to find them.
The Value of Old Patches
Nuggets make for the best memories and this patch was just adding to mine. In the hours of daylight I had left, I worked from that nugget to the bottom of the patch, collecting eight more nuggets.
Late Fall Drywashing
Part of the good thing about this spot is that it is not that far from my home in the famous Virginia City mining district. Not everyone knows this, but the first discoveries around that area were gold placers.
Making the Jump to Electronic Prospecting
After pinpointing and recovery, he had his first nugget of channel gold in his hand. This was also his first nugget with the new detector.
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The Bawl Mill
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