Detecting Wet Ground Yields More Fun Than Gold

June 2019 by Ray Mills

We all continued over to another location at the top of a massive placer operation. Arriving at the draw, I showed everyone where gold had been found before and we all began detecting.

Determining the Amount of Gold in Rich Ores

February 2016
This is just the type of specimen that could have been easily ignored by the old-time miners. It felt a little heavier in my hand than a chunk of quartz of that size ought to have been.

So, Where's The Gold?—Finding Gold Detectors Miss

December 2010
We decided to run a detector over each piece. If we got a decent signal we placed the piece into a high-grade pile and the rest went into another pile to be worked on later. This high-grade pile wasn’t that large—maybe 25 pounds...

Potholes and Other Bedrock Traps

September 2012
Potholes in bedrock can trap placer minerals and even be glory holes. They are, at least, interesting geologic phenomena, and at best, a treasure trove of gold nuggets.

Bedrock

March 2014
I am going to break bedrock down a bit and explain my view of the varying scenarios I come across in the field.

Deep Nuggets From The Strange Little Patch

April 2018

I began detecting at the bottom of the gully and started making my way upstream. About mid-way there was a nice, flat stretch for about ten feet.

Detector Prospecting Accessories

January 2016

One of the first things to consider but that many people ignore is ergonomics. Prospecting for gold can involve long hours, often for days or weeks on end.

Iowa Hill District

June 2012
For the last two years we’ve held a hands-on prospectors training session in the Iowa Hill district of California’s Mother Lode country as a part of our Gold Prospecting and Mining Summit event. Because of this, I thought it might be good to take a look at the history, geology and opportunities that the Iowa Hill district still offers to the individual prospector.

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