Prospecting & Detecting
ICMJ Visits The Northstar Mining Museum
November 2022
Detecting Old Ground Sluice Locations
Ground sluicing, surfacing and scratching are a few names given to the recovery of gold in shallow areas. Where I live, the hills are dotted with small surface diggings.
The Half-Mile Claim
We dug and extracted for two more hours. This time, as I dumped the concentrates, I saw a piece of gold three-fourths of an inch long and as big around as a pencil.
ICMJ Visits Sonora, CA
June 2023The Gold Of Horseshoe Bend
And we eventually reached gold. It was a winding crevice of beautiful white quartz lined with small nuggets and loaded with fine gold. There were flakes and small granular pieces—there had to be a hundred or more.
Papa's Got A Brand New Dredge!
It was time to prime the pump and start the engine! Dan’s priming method is to use a small, submersible, 12-volt pump. My priming method is to use a hand-operated diaphragm pump.
Man's Best Friend
Adam’s condition had been deteriorating every step of the way. At times, I could only coax him ten or twenty feet before he laid down again. He refused to eat or drink. At this point, I realized we might not get out of the canyon by dark and might need help getting Adam out at all.
A Golden Vacation
Each day for the first part of the week my boys and I picked and chipped away at that wall, stockpiling dirt in 5-gallon buckets and cement mixing tubs.
Subscription Required:
Time to go Prospecting
• Fire! In the Gold Country
• Off to the Sierra Again
• Strategies for Dig and Detect Operations
• Big River Gold Exploration: Trend Zone 1
• An Interesting Time in the Historic Rand Mining District
• The China Hat
• Resource Maven Independent Analysis of the Resource Markets
Free:
Blast From the Past
• PLP Update
