Prospecting & Detecting
California: The Land of Big Nuggets—Part I
December 2017 by Chris Ralph
The nugget sat there in plain sight, though it was covered in dirt, while hundreds of people had passed that way every day.
Placer Sampling for the Small-Scale Miner
I have seen many samples taken originally with an eye toward getting the highest grades possible, but later someone claims that those results represent an average grade of the whole gravel deposit.
Refractory Gold Processing
After your excitement peaks when you first receive the high gold assay from the vein you just exposed, you ponder how you will extract and sell your gold. You will need to develop a flow sheet for your process to optimize your recovery and minimize your costs and permit requirements.
Hit the Slopes to Find More Gold
Watching for these areas is one of my primary targets during the winter. It doesn’t take but a few inches of the surface moving away to give a fantastic target response that you didn’t hear prior to the washing of the surface.
A Family Quest for Gold
Back at our campsite, while the rest of us grabbed a late four o’clock lunch, Fallyn volunteered to do the clean-up panning.
Desert Prospecting Yields More Than Just Gold
This wash was not far from where I once dug a half-ounce nugget, so I knew there was gold in the area.
Rediscovering Placerville, California Part II
To get to the gold, the miners had to remove the shale pieces and stack them on the sides while sluicing the remaining material through their boxes.
Following Man-Made Ditches to Recover More Gold
Because of multiple take-out points along a ditch line, the ditches themselves become a wealth of knowledge to us present-day miners.
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