Prospecting & Detecting
Fine Gold Panning Without Using Mercury
March 2012 by Jim Halloran
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.The Essentials of Dry Washing
Most dry washers have a feed rate adjustment. It needs to be set so that the material flows evenly over the riffles and does not bury them.
PLP Update: Back to The 'Swamp' on Behalf of Small Miners
We spent the morning in a meeting with one of the higher-ups at the US Forest Service. I presented him with 412 complaints received from our readers, along with a summary of the complaints to make his job easier.
It Pays to Know Your Bedrock
On our last trip, we brought ropes and went down the first waterfall forty vertical feet, only to be confronted by a second, sixty-foot-high, overhanging waterfall that emptied into a slot canyon.
Detecting Old Ground Sluice Locations
Ground sluicing, surfacing and scratching are a few names given to the recovery of gold in shallow areas. Where I live, the hills are dotted with small surface diggings.
Just Another Ordinary Weekend
There was no evidence that anyone else had ever worked this gully with the exception of some old sample piles near the foot of the ravine.Wild and Scenic River Prospecting—North Fork of the American River
Today it is getting tougher and tougher to find a place to prospect. There is one significant haven left for the small miner...
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.
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The Bawl Mill
• Ask the Experts: Set up a small portable operation or send the ore to a custom mill?
• Ask the Experts: Who manufactures the diagonal vibrating table?
• Ask the Experts: Do "corners" need to be in place on the ground for a claim to be valid?
• Ask the Experts: Tantalite in an African nation -- is it worth pursuing?
• Legislative and Regulatory Update
• Following Clues to a Hidden Gold Deposit
• How to Melt Your Own Gold
• Judge Tosses Lawsuit Against Tucson-Area Mine
• Salted Mining Properties—How to Properly Evaluate a Claim
• Australia Produces World's Largest Gold Coin
• Fells Flat Gold
• Colorado Considers Gold & Silver Currency
• Melman on Gold & Silver
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Revised Dredge Regulations Published for California—Pure Garbage
• Xmet Aims for One Million Ounces
