Fortunately, there are products on the market that can address these problems and make a small-scale mining operation feasible.

I opted for the underwater portion of the river. All I have to do is float down the river and pick large flakes and small nuggets out of cracks and crevices while staying cool in the summer heat.

The old report I read indicated all they ever did was dig some trenches and take samples. It sounded to me like a good place to take my metal detector...

My largest nugget from this area is almost one-half ounce. I’ve found several smaller chunks and many pickers in addition to the fines and flakes that I put in my poke.