Prospecting & Detecting
Hunches, Choices and Guesses
September 2013 by Chris Ralph

How Rich Must My Ore Be?
How rich does a hard rock ore have to be for it to be worthwhile to process and extract the gold?
Tips for Detecting Nugget Patches

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.
Hard Rock 101: Blasting With Kinepak Explosives
Fortunately, there are products on the market that can address these problems and make a small-scale mining operation feasible.
Drywashing for Fine Gold
When working fine gold placers with a drywasher, there are some natural variables that can be beneficial as well as others that can be a hindrance to achieving good recovery.
The Mid-Winter Nugget
Some of the gold is placer that was beat up as it traveled; however, quite a bit of the gold is pocket gold that is running along the surface in this area.
Excavator Testing Wet Placer Ground
The excavator or backhoe has become the tool of choice for testing placer ground. These machines are the best way to explore and sample a placer deposit if the ground is not too wet or frozen and bedrock is not beyond the reach of the machine.
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