Prospecting & Detecting
Half Moons
September 2023 by Ray Mills
Detectors Versus Pans

California State and US National Gold Panning Championships
This was two days of gold panning, with just over 250 gold panners trying to win a medal to show they were one of the best of the best.
Panning on North Fork American Yields Good Gold
This second trip down was a challenge. It started in Colfax on the Stevens Trail, where the distance to the river is four miles with an elevation drop of about 1,000 feet.
Achieving Accurate Metal Detector Discrimination
Your odds of going home with gold will be higher using the discrimination mode, even if you might have misread one of the targets you rejected.
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.
Indicators and Hillsides
The placer gold shows up in ground sluice areas, hydraulic pits, secondary channels and hillside diggings. It is coming down the hillsides from an ancient channel left high and dry millions of years ago.
Time Well Spent

Subscription Required:
Exploration, Frustration & Extreme Heat In Pursuit Of Forresthill Gold!
• Formation of Gold Deposits in the South Eastern United States
• Connecting With The Past With Gold Rush Coins
• Summertime Gold! Northern & Southern California
• Over the Divide
Free:
The Bawl Mill
• Legislation and Regulation
• PLP Update September 2023
• ICMJ Visits Virginia City, Nevada