Prospecting & Detecting
Gold Prospecting: For Better or Worse
September 2018 by Joe Chmiel
We all love to see that first glimmer of gold when it peeks out from under the black sand in our pan, or feel the weight of a nugget in our scoop when we dig a good target. But sometimes things don’t go quite so smoothly.
Resurrecting An Old Hard Rock Mine
There were nice sections of vein material at the end of several drifts, like they just stopped work one day and walked away.
Romancing the Rock
With the exception of well-established operators with proven reserves and years of field experience, the high price of gold brought a flood of speculators, con men, and real estate brokers into the mix who were not previously engaged in the gold mining market.
Detecting Alluvial Bench Deposits
The same questions you ask yourself about gold trapping features in the present stream can be applied to the benches above the stream. Just imagine the stream at a much earlier time, before it cut its way down to the present level…
Mother Lode Leaf Gold
After removing about six inches of dirt and cobbles, the sound was a bit more recognizable. I was now confident that there was a definite target and not just a ground noise.
Prospecting Research
These are just some of the ways I have been able to find new spots to metal detect for gold.
Highbanking for Gold
Pumps can be set up quite a distance away horizontally from the sluice, even hundreds of feet. It will work so long as there is sufficient water at the source where the pump is located. Vertical distance is more of a problem than horizontal distance; 30 to 40 feet is the maximum vertical climb for most pumps.
Rediscovering Placerville, California Part II
To get to the gold, the miners had to remove the shale pieces and stack them on the sides while sluicing the remaining material through their boxes.
Subscription Required:
Ask The Experts - Why is there no detector signal with pyrite?
• Ask The Experts - Need assaying advice
• Ask The Experts - Can you tell me anything about the Cherry Creek District in Nevada?
• Legislative and Regulatory Update
• Understanding Skim Bar Placers
• Detecting Canyon Bedrock in The Sierras
• Mining Journal Receives Honor
• New Research Tool for Miners in Wyoming
• PLP Update
• Have We Hit 'Peak Gold'?
• Old Mine Sites and New Technology
• What Happened to The Gold Prospecting and Mining Summit?
• Melman on Gold & Silver
• Mining Stock Quotes and Mineral & Metal Prices
