Exceptions to the Rules: Re-Thinking Prospecting Rules of Thumb

January 2020 by Chris Ralph

Looking at the exceptions to the basic rules is sort of an advanced prospecting discussion, but the readers of ICMJs Prospecting and Mining Journal are plenty able to handle it.

My First Carolina Nugget

September 2019

On my weekends off I spent many hours dredging the Second Broad River from Cane Creek Road up to the headwaters. I used a three-inch dredge with air and graduated to a five-inch with air.

Who Jumped Whose Claim First?

February 2019

At this point, stress raised my blood pressure and I was figuring out escape routes through the brush, but thought it best to continue the conversation.

Fine Gold Panning Without Using Mercury

March 2012
The technique I will describe is a much safer alternative and it works. It’s a fine-gold panning technique that eliminates the need for mercury amalgamation of most placer samples.

Prospecting for Surface Flood Gold Placers on Low and Intermediate Gradient Streams

February 2015

Sample panning is a very important method used to find the richest parts of a flood gold deposit before setting up equipment and running material.

Detecting Old Pocket Diggings

February 2013
Looking around, I could tell that this was an old hand-digging. As I walked around the perimeter of the digging I could see shovel and pick marks scratched on the clean, hard clay and bedrock.

Gemstones to Die For

November 2014
Some gems can potentially poison you, make you sterile and even make you forget who you are.

Gully Prospecting and Mining

September 2014
This article is about our recent gold prospecting adventure, which has yielded over 20 ounces of specimen gold—with more to come.

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