My largest nugget from this area is almost one-half ounce. I’ve found several smaller chunks and many pickers in addition to the fines and flakes that I put in my poke.

“What does it take to get into gold detecting?” This may seem like a simple question, but the more I hear it, the more I realize it is a frequent question that needs to be answered.

Some of these events can cause half of an entire mountain to plummet down into a gorge or canyon, damming up a stream system and causing a flood when the earthen dam finally breaks from the water backing up behind it.

Each day for the first part of the week my boys and I picked and chipped away at that wall, stockpiling dirt in 5-gallon buckets and cement mixing tubs.

Fortunately, there are products on the market that can address these problems and make a small-scale mining operation feasible.