Prospecting & Detecting
Cold Water Gold
December 2011 by Tom Leftwich
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...PLP Update: Back to The 'Swamp' on Behalf of Small Miners
We spent the morning in a meeting with one of the higher-ups at the US Forest Service. I presented him with 412 complaints received from our readers, along with a summary of the complaints to make his job easier.
Guinea Africa: Gold, Ebola, and A Monkey Barbecue
Doubters be informed, yes, there is gold in Africa—lots of gold—and all the good and bad that comes with it.
Northwestern Alaska Mineral Resources
Gold and jade are actually only minor mineral resources for the Northwestern Alaska region as a whole. Modern prospecting has focused more on base metal than precious metal resources.
Detecting in the Outback
I have always enjoyed finding things. As a kid and up through college I searched for arrowheads, rocks and fossils. One day I saw an ad for a metal detector in a magazine, and a week later I was digging up everyone’s yard...
Excavator Testing Wet Placer Ground
The excavator or backhoe has become the tool of choice for testing placer ground. These machines are the best way to explore and sample a placer deposit if the ground is not too wet or frozen and bedrock is not beyond the reach of the machine.
Following the Clues
It took me awhile before I finally got a nice mellow signal. My nugget turned out to weigh in about two dwt (pennyweight). Over the next few hours, we all picked up a few more nuggets apiece.
Scams, Scammers and Schemes
Gold mining has received many black eyes from many scams, scammers and schemes throughout the years. Unscrupulous scammers have swindled naive people for millions of dollars in the past and will, no doubt, continue into the future.
Subscription Required:
The Bawl Mill
• Our Readers Say
• Ask the Experts—Looking up mining claims on the Internet
• Ask the Experts—Access to mining claim across private land
• Ask the Experts—Best way to identify calaverite and sylvanite
• Legislative and Regulatory Update
• WSGS Releases New Geologic Maps
• Prospecting on the North Yuba
• Yesterday's Gold—Today's Mine
• Where to Find Gold in Indiana
• Prospecting Australia—Part III Anatomy of a Nugget Patch in Western Australia
• Nevada Miners: Check Your Claim Markers
• Managers at Fault for Two Deaths at Meikle Mine
• River Dredging vs. Creek Dredging—Part I
• Melman on Gold & Silver
• Mining Stock Quotes and Mineral & Metal Prices
Free:
Ask the Experts—How do you determine how far a piece of gold has traveled in a stream?
• Testing Ores for Free Gold
