Prospecting & Detecting
Detecting for Gold—Finding Nuggets Where You Least Expect Them
September 2012 by Ray Mills
Many friends have come up to my locale to detect for gold. I am writing this article hoping that it may help anyone who uses a detector to prospect for gold nuggets.
Growing Up Gold
If you’re going to successfully detect nuggets you must not only know a little about finding gold and detecting, but you also need to know your own limits, have a dash of luck and a lot of persistence.
Diary of a Diamond Prospector
I couldn’t wait to get started. With no field budget, an assay budget of $100/year, a 1975-Ford Bronco that was a road hazard, a gas card, a topo map and full support of the director, I headed to the State Line district near Tie Siding along US Highway 287 to begin mapping kimberlite.
The Rest of the Story—Detecting With Ray Mills
Ray followed up by detecting the same area and I was happy to see that he did not find any good targets in the same line. So far so good.
Dry Washer, Wet System or Metal Detector?
I love to dry wash old nugget patches found by detector operators, and I have found my fair share of gold dry washing those areas. I have also found a few nuggets using a detector on the bedrock exposed by dry washing the patches.
A Lesson In Underwater Sniping
Of course, I know a bit about crevicing, but Steve seems to really have a knack for it, and I’m all about continual learning. I can always learn a few tricks from the pros.
Using Structural Clues to Locate Buried Placer Channels
They must have assumed the paystreak was spotty and had been mined out, so they never mined as close to the side of the valley as they should have.
Sniping for Drought Gold
There are not a lot of tools needed to get out and take advantage of the situation. Other than my wetsuit, I typically travel light with a gold pan, maybe a pry bar and a few crevice cleaning tools.
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