California State and US National Gold Panning Championships

November 2018 by Don Robinson

This was two days of gold panning, with just over 250 gold panners trying to win a medal to show they were one of the best of the best.

Entry-Level Metal Detectors for Gold Prospecting

September 2017

These are entry-level machines designed with gold prospecting in mind and with the ability to handle mineralized ground and see nuggets of a grain or so in size, perhaps smaller.

Confluence Placers

June 2013
Confluences of placer streams are well known as concentration sites for heavy minerals. The basic reason is that...

Dredging Therapy

October 2016
The big moment finally arrived. With Norm suited up, I pulled the motor to life and felt instantly better. There’s really something relaxing about the sound of a dredge running—they don’t sound like anything else.

Ask the Experts

November 2012
Heading for Australia to metal detect for gold. Tips? Suggestions?

Detecting Alluvial Bench Deposits

February 2017
The same questions you ask yourself about gold trapping features in the present stream can be applied to the benches above the stream. Just imagine the stream at a much earlier time, before it cut its way down to the present level…

There's a First Time for Everyone

September 2014
...day one was like watching the Gold Rush television show. He furiously worked the nozzle in an up and down fashion that resembled Jack Hoffman sitting on a backhoe.

Coprolite—A Prospector's Tale

February 2014
Gold nuggets come in all forms, but I never expected that dinosaur nuggets would too, and at a decent price.

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