Prospecting & Detecting
Gold From Black Sand Tailings
October 2011 by Tom Leftwich
The pile up on the small hill had to be a couple yards of black sand. I’m not one to ignore a little gold even if it is small in size—I have always believed that gold fever comes in all sizes.
Mutiny on The Mason
We decided to check some spots that were pretty good to us on previous trips. The detector was deceptively simple with few buttons and auto-ground balance.
Route Planning Using GPS
My intention was to end this discussion with waypoints and routes, then I found USGS maps of the Plainfield Quadrangle.
Detecting Clay Seams
Because the old timers were so good at locating the better paying deposits—most of them along clay seams in this particular area—it makes good sense to try and locate these clay lines at old mining sites.
Greenhorn Finds Gold in Colorado
Using a snuffer bottle to pick it out of the pan, he continued his panning efforts. He continued to find more yellowish stuff, but it wasn’t shiny like he thought gold should look.
How to Stake Your Own Claim—Researching Mining Claims
Once you have determined that the land is locatable, the next step in the claim research process is to determine if the land has already been claimed by a previous locator.
Divide and Conquer—Detecting Old Placer Grounds with Friends
He no sooner had turned around and started moving when I hollered again that I had another nice one.
The Hunt for Remote Canyon Gold
A large, 8-pennyweight piece popped out of a very small crevice where the water had been extremely swift in the winter, leaving no visible gravel.
Subscription Required:
The Bawl Mill
• Legislative And Regulatory Update
• Ask The Experts—Separating platinum from sands using bubbles
• Ask The Experts—Extraction of micro gold from black sands
• Ask The Experts—Difference between a Geiger counter and scintillator
• Then and Now: Is Gold Really Money?
• Gold, Quartz & Chalcedony—Part I
• Prospecting Australia—Part I
• Oregon Dredge Permit Litigation Update
• The Fine Art of Panning Heavy Sands
• California State Gold Panning Championships
• The Golden Days of Julian, California
• An Expensive Lesson
• Judge Denies Request To Delay Michigan Mine
• Melman on Gold & Silver
