Prospecting & Detecting
Following Man-Made Ditches to Recover More Gold
February 2020 by Ray Mills
Because of multiple take-out points along a ditch line, the ditches themselves become a wealth of knowledge to us present-day miners.
Detecting the Fringe Areas
One prime example is an area that I have talked about in many of my articles. This is a very large area and I will actually describe its location again.
A New Prospecting Spot
Once indicators start showing up along or below a contact I start to get excited. When I have shale, and outcroppings of diorite with iron-red, gritty soil and some clay thrown in, I really get lightheaded. I may be a mile away from the nearest diggings but that’s okay. I just found a spot that could provide some nice nugget hunting.
The Smell of Gold—Part I
Some claim they can smell gold. This may be, but when I take a whiff of gold, I smell dirt, rotten eggs, garlic or just nothing: my nose is everything but sensitive.
The World of the Simple Gold Pan
There are so many, many different types of gold pans on the market that I thought it would be worthwhile to take a look at the world of the simple gold pan.
Tips and Tricks: How to Make Your Own Gold Bars Without Burning the Place Down
You find yourself with a bucketful of concentrates that you have accumulated over the season and consider the logical next step: to reduce the bucket of cons to a gold bar. Where do you begin?
Breaking Rock the Old School Way
Prospectors have many reasons why they might want to break rocks. These include dividing up a specimen too large to carry.
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.
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The Bawl Mill
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