Prospecting & Detecting
Excavator Testing Wet Placer Ground
April 2013 by Jim Halloran
The excavator or backhoe has become the tool of choice for testing placer ground. These machines are the best way to explore and sample a placer deposit if the ground is not too wet or frozen and bedrock is not beyond the reach of the machine.Detecting Nuggets—Overcoming New Challenges
Depth is not an issue unless the site is thoroughly cleaned of shallow trash, and it is far easier to isolate and remove targets using a small coil in a target rich location.
Attention to Detail - Part II
Ditches almost always started in the high country and contoured the mountainsides, making a long drop, usually many miles away, to the goldfields. There are ditches in Trinity County that originate at seven and eight thousand feet in the Trinity Alps that carried water almost thirty miles.
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.
Metal Detecting Old Hard Rock Mine Dumps
The type of mine dump that is best for metal detecting are the ones that consist of mixed sizes of rock and are located near some sort of excavation, commonly a shaft or adit. Sometimes the piles located along a trench dug by the miners can be productive as well.
Gold Too Big to Carry
There is a unique anticipation that comes with waking in gold country. The long early morning rays bring warmth after a cold night. Restless nights allow thoughts of gold hidden in the ground for too long.
Searchers' Dreams
The story began in a southern Arizona mountain range...
Moore Creek, Alaska—Then and Now
The gold was very chunky and much of it had quartz attached. Even back then I knew that the gold was very close to its source.
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The Bawl Mill
• Ask the Experts - processing plants that can extract rare earth metals
• Ask the Experts - what does MDB&M stand for?
• Ask the Experts - proper mining claim procedures
• The Hughes Creek Placers, Montana
• Benefits of a Detecting Partner
• Hard Rock Milling: A Matter of Scale
• Paperwork Guy—A Cautionary Tale
• ICMJ Online Forum Now Available
• Detecting For Gold—Are You Up For It?
• A Trip Down the Yukon River
• Selenium, Mercury and Suction Dredging—Studies Contradict CA State Water Resources Board
• Melman on Gold & Silver
• Mining Stock Quotes and Mineral & Metal Prices
