Gold Geochemistry: Where Does Gold Come From?

February 2021 by Chris Ralph

Prospectors often wonder why gold deposits in veins like it does. Why is one vein rich while another is barren, even though they are only a few hundred feet apart?

Guinea Africa: Gold, Ebola, and A Monkey Barbecue

November 2014
Doubters be informed, yes, there is gold in Africa—lots of gold—and all the good and bad that comes with it.

Sunset Sunbaker

July 2017

He began hiking my way and was as astonished as I was when he saw it. Another high five moment! It makes you wonder how long this gold had just been sitting there on the ground.

Revisiting Old Haunts

October 2019

I had some success following this premise this summer, finding a few nuggets in places I think I overlooked in the past.

A Trip Down the Yukon River

April 2013
My girlfriend Beth and I decided to take our canoe down the Yukon and do some gold dredging...

Geology of Placer Deposits: Reading a River

September 2022

The exact point where you choose to dig for gold makes all the difference in the world.

California State Panning Championships—Foresthill, CA Heritage Celebration

October 2013
Here's the kicker—for every lost flake there was a five minute penalty added to the time. Lost gold generally meant you didn't make it past the preliminaries.

Attention to Detail - Part II

September 2016
Ditches almost always started in the high country and contoured the mountainsides, making a long drop, usually many miles away, to the goldfields. There are ditches in Trinity County that originate at seven and eight thousand feet in the Trinity Alps that carried water almost thirty miles.

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