Prospecting & Detecting
Cold Alaskan Gold—Part I
September 2012 by Chris Ralph
Crowds may be great for football games or the Fourth of July, but not for prospecting. So, this summer, while thousands of gold seekers were heading to the coast of Alaska, I headed to a remote part of the Interior.
Using A Blasting Machine in Rock Breaking
Whatever system you plan to use will require a way to safely initiate the explosives from a distance. In this article, we’re going to learn the basics of electric blasting and get a hands-on example…
Green Valley's Fine Gold Patch
Once across, I panned a couple of spots around some old grass roots and the fine gold was amazingly heavy. Every pan I ran after that had lots of color.
Are There Any Good Prospects Left?
This type of thinking will get you discouraged pretty fast, and soon all of your mining equipment will be found gathering dust in your garage.
What To Do With All That Gold?
I can tell you that a lot of driving and digging hours went into getting that gold. I wish I had something to show for it. I told myself I would never do that again.
Auburn, California
Many of the gold camps were violent places, but in this regard, the town of Auburn exhibited a different behavior. There were few of the duels or lynchings that characterized many of the other early settlements.
A New Prospecting Spot
Once indicators start showing up along or below a contact I start to get excited. When I have shale, and outcroppings of diorite with iron-red, gritty soil and some clay thrown in, I really get lightheaded. I may be a mile away from the nearest diggings but that’s okay. I just found a spot that could provide some nice nugget hunting.
Picking Our Way Through Bedrock
Once again the coil was put over the spot but the target was in the pile now. I pinpointed, grabbed a handful of dirt and began sprinkling it over the coil until I heard that mild thud.
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The Bawl Mill
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• Detecting for Gold—Finding Nuggets Where You Least Expect Them
• Potholes and Other Bedrock Traps
• Financing by the Crowd
• Wealth Beyond Your Wildest Imagination
• Gold Too Big to Carry
• The World of the Simple Gold Pan
• New Silver and Zinc Mine Slated for Montana
• Eastern Oregon Mine Seeks Permits
• Mining Returns to Historic Comstock
• BLM Issues Environmental Review of Wyoming Uranium Mine
• Melman on Gold & Silver
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