Prospecting & Detecting
Getting Started
June 2017 by Gary C. Earle
He excitedly told me he was going mining and wanted to know where he should go, how to do it, and so on. After he calmed down, I got excited. “I need to go!” was my response.
Nevada's Lithium Boom
When prospecting for lithium, after confirming for macro attributes through research and field work, including examination of surface geology, the main tool is an accurate lithium assay.
Placer Gold Deposits of New Mexico
While a large number of locations have yielded some placer gold, most of the state’s placer production has come from a few productive districts.
Follow Up to "Just One More Time"
…the “One More Time” has turned into three more trips and each of the three has yielded more gold each time down.
Gold Prospecting: For Better or Worse--It Was A Dark and Overcast Night
With one outstretched hand grasping the bottle and the other waving at air, I moved forward feeling for the tent. No tent. No tree.
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.
Excavator Testing Wet Placer Ground
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.
Pot Hole Gold
It was early in the 2008 season on the Mokelumne River near Pine Grove, California. Considering the potential for high water through the month of June, my wife Fran and I set our sights on investigating some of the pot holes in...
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The Bawl Mill
• Ask The Experts: What indicator rocks should I be looking for in northern Nevada?
• Ask The Experts: What to do with scheelite
• Ask The Experts: Small-scale drilling
• Quartzsite Gives Up Some Big Gold
• Prospecting After Winter Storms
• How to Stake Your Own Claim—Researching Mining Claims
• The Birthday Nugget Patch
• MMAC Update
• The Goldfield Mining District, Nevada—Part I
• Volume is the Key to Success
• Melman on Gold & Silver
• Mining Stock Quotes and Mineral & Metal Prices







