Prospecting & Detecting
California State Panning Championships—Foresthill, CA Heritage Celebration
October 2013 by Staff
Here's the kicker—for every lost flake there was a five minute penalty added to the time. Lost gold generally meant you didn't make it past the preliminaries.
Cold Water Gold
It was June 2011, and my wife Fran and I with Grandson Lucas and good friend Ernie Cruz were attempting to get to our gold mining claim on the Middle Fork of the Feather River about ten miles from Quincy, California. Rain had poured down in the previous few days and the road in a large number of low places was under water. Following two hours of slugging through the mud...
The "Madonna Nugget"—A Weekend Hunt to Remember
I worked my way to a flat area along a ridge where I could see a quartz blowout. As I got within 100 feet of it, I started seeing rock that I knew to be associated with gold.
Route Planning Using GPS
My intention was to end this discussion with waypoints and routes, then I found USGS maps of the Plainfield Quadrangle.
Maitland Bar Nugget to Go On Display
The box sat in a hallway and employees began using it for impromptu cricket games, no knowing what it contained.
Greenhorn Finds Gold in Colorado
Using a snuffer bottle to pick it out of the pan, he continued his panning efforts. He continued to find more yellowish stuff, but it wasn’t shiny like he thought gold should look.
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.
Searchers' Dreams
The story began in a southern Arizona mountain range...
Subscription Required:
The Bawl Mill
• EPA Tries to Intimidate Alaskan Miners
• A Few Pointers About Cracks and Crevices
• Hunting for Gold in the Quartzsite Area of Western Arizona
• The Madonna Nugget
• The Alaska Highway and Beyond
• It's Hard to Find Gold!
• Partner Withdraws from Pebble Project
• Highbanking at the 144
• Potential Gold at Old Hydraulic Sites
• Prospecting Tales: Forest Service, Fires and Bears—Oh My!
• Melman on Gold & Silver
• Mining Stock Quotes and Mineral & Metal Prices
Free:
Legislative and Regulatory Update
• Research and Fieldwork Yield Some Promising Gold







