Prospecting & Detecting
Determining the Amount of Gold in Rich Ores
February 2016 by Chris Ralph
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.
Sluicing and Detecting Downstream
…early last fall, I found my first gold-rich patch along a few crevices in the same river and found five grams of gold nuggets in one outing.
Getting Into Hot Water While Reclamation Dredging
Once I started dredging with heated water pumped into my wetsuit, I never went back to not having heat except late in the summer when the water is very warm.
Finding Gold With A Simple Sluice Box
…the sluice is a normal first step up from a gold pan for many prospectors. They are simple to use, easily portable, can capture a lot of gold, and can process gravel 10 to 20 times faster than a person can pan…
Early Winter Detecting in the Sierras
The mine site consists of river gravels from an ancient channel covering over 20 acres, and the place is covered with very large river rock and small tree overgrowth.
Moving The Big Rocks
The anticipation of finding out if the system of snatch blocks, shackles, chokers, anchor points, and the strap binding the massive slab of rock in the bottom of the river would even budge an inch was weighing on me.
Maitland Bar Nugget to Go On Display
The box sat in a hallway and employees began using it for impromptu cricket games, no knowing what it contained.
Hunting Down Paystreaks
When I teach people about finding gold, I often explain that it is helpful to think of any river or stream that carries gold as being something like a sluice box.
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