Prospecting & Detecting
Electronic Prospecting: The Hunt for Coarse Gold
September 2022 by Cal Kellogg
Standing on the edge of the canyon just after daybreak, I was filled with equal measures of excitement and trepidation.
Iowa Hill District
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.
Successful Detecting Requires Attention to Detail—Part I
So much of gold detecting depends on attention to detail. Every gold area offers its own distinct geological markers and as prospectors we must pick up on those markers.
The Value of Old Patches
Nuggets make for the best memories and this patch was just adding to mine. In the hours of daylight I had left, I worked from that nugget to the bottom of the patch, collecting eight more nuggets.
The Birthday Nugget Patch
Down around 10 or 12 inches I hit a large cobble that appeared to be one type of hot rock for this area. I thought bad things about the new technology until I checked the rock.
The Reason We Fight
Joy was written on his face, holding up the nugget—his first ever nugget—that he and his grandpa dug up together.
How Long Does It Take to Find and Recover An Ounce of Gold?
Some ask if a prospector can collect an entire ounce in a day. It is possible; I’ve done it before.
Gold: Is It Everywhere?
Gold, on the other hand, is super rare, and is one of the rarest elements in the earth’s crust. It averages only 0.000004 percent of the earth’s surface. That is four parts in a billion.
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Online 3D version Coming Soon
• Geology of Placer Deposits: Reading a River
• Grass Valley, Nevada City, Malakoff Diggings, Northern California
• Let Nature Help
• Glacial Prospecting Basics Part 1
• Gleaning for Gold Part 2
• PLP Update
• Blast From the Past
• Resource Maven
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