Prospecting & Detecting
Gold Placers of Southern California
September 2021 by Chris Ralph
I grew up in Southern California, and found my first nugget there, so I know my way around. Because there is good gold there, I thought it might be helpful to take a look at the many placer gold opportunities found in the southern part of the state.
Prospecting After Winter Storms
So, how much rain does it take to cause a major movement of gravels in a stream and redistribute the gold? The technical answer is enough water to move the bed load of the river.
Ganes Creek Hits 10 Years—Part II
You keep all you find at Ganes, with weekly tallies kept for a loose competition that I find helps motivate me. I seriously try to find more nuggets than anyone else in a given week, and usually make it or close to it.
Mineralization, Ground Balance and Metal Detecting
The right ground balance setting for the conditions you are working is critical. If your detector isn’t set properly, you will lose depth of detection, sometimes to an extreme degree.
Dredging Tips and Tricks: A Measure of Water Pump Efficiency
…as an academic argument, when mated to the appropriate engine, is the pump really moving water at the rate of 400 GPM?
Huge California Nugget A Hoax
Sanders claimed he used ground-penetrating radar to survey his private property in Nevada County, California, and uncovered the chunk of gold with a backhoe when he was following up on one of the anomalies found by the radar.
A Few Tips and Tricks for Beach Mining
When you think about the extremes to which a miner will go to get a little gold, it occurred to me beach gold could be "easy pickings."
The Alaska Highway and Beyond
My first clean-up showed that my efforts were not in vain. There was considerable color with some good-sized nuggets in the riffle trap.
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The Bawl Mill
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• Ask The Experts - Can you clarify how many minerals I need to identify to be successful?
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• Indicators and Hillsides
• Surviving the Unexpected
• Gold Prospecting for Better or Worse: Throwing Away Thousand-Dollar Hot Rocks
• 3D-Printed Tools for Prospecting
• Libby, Montana Prospectors Keep Tradition Alive
• Colorado Miner Sues EPA Over 2015 Spill
• Melman on Gold & Silver
• Mining Stock Quotes and Mineral & Metal Prices
