Gold Hunting on Libby Creek

January 2018 by Reese Townes

The biggest nugget I have found detecting here was three grams and the following weekend someone found a 9-gram nugget while detecting. Some have even found quarter-ounce nuggets, with one being a chevron nugget.

Ophir—Possibly the Best Kept Secret in Alaska—Part II

December 2013
I knew the nuggets got into the nugget patch somehow, I just had to figure out how and from what direction they came.

The Fine Art of Panning Heavy Sands

October 2011
The fine art of panning heavy sands requires a measure of patience. If you enjoy panning gold, you ought to enjoy this too, once you get the hang of it.

My Lucky Month of March

June 2013
My wife Maureen and I spend part of our winter season in the Quartzsite, Arizona area. One fine March morning, we left our RV camping area at approximately 10am in search of that elusive yellow metal with our metal detectors.

Summertime Gold Panning

September 2016
I have smaller pans for cleaning black sand concentrates, big pans for taking large samples, pans with corners for pouring out materials, and pans with lots of special riffles. This variation is why I have so many pans—they each have their specialty.

Sniping for Drought Gold

August 2014
There are not a lot of tools needed to get out and take advantage of the situation. Other than my wetsuit, I typically travel light with a gold pan, maybe a pry bar and a few crevice cleaning tools.

Think You Got It All? Guess Again!

May 2016

Is your gold recovery actually 95%, 90%, or even a really poor 50%? If you are not testing to know what it really is, you just don’t know. Some do regular testing, but most do not.

Following Clues to a Hidden Gold Deposit

March 2012
Many years ago I was in the American Canyon. I remembered a few details about a placer deposit there, so we decided to make a trip down and re-check some of these old workings.

Subscription Required:
The Bawl Mill   • Legislative and Regulatory Update   • California: The Land of Big Nuggets—Part II   • How to Interpret Assay Values   • Bedrock Nugget Hunting: Tools of the Trade   • A Primer on Bitcoin and Other Cryptocurrencies   • PLP and MMAC Update   • Man's Best Friend   • An Interview with Minelab Engineer Mark Lawrie   • Third Largest Nugget in Existence Returns to Dallas   • Melman on Gold & Silver   • Mining Stock Quotes and Mineral & Metal Prices

Free: