Prospecting & Detecting
Iowa Hill District
June 2012 by Chris Ralph
For the last two years we’ve held a hands-on prospectors training session in the Iowa Hill district of California’s Mother Lode country as a part of our Gold Prospecting and Mining Summit event. Because of this, I thought it might be good to take a look at the history, geology and opportunities that the Iowa Hill district still offers to the individual prospector.Crushing Quartz in Calaveras County: A Placer Miner Learns New Tricks
I had never run an impact mill before, but anything involving rocks, water and a big electric motor sounded great.
Police Urge Author to End Treasure Hunt
The plea from State Police Chief Pete Kassetas follows what authorities believe is the latest death related to the effort to uncover Forrest Fenn’s treasure.
Roads to Nowhere
What today appears to be a “road to nowhere” was once a road to somewhere. At today’s precious metal prices that somewhere can be of great importance to you.
Early Winter Detecting in the Sierras

The Coolgardie Gold Mining Camp of Southern California
The area was mined intermittently from around 1900 to 1915, but was also mined in the late 1800s, with a total output valued at about $100,000, which is around $9.5 million at the current gold price.
Gold From Black Sand Tailings

Prospector Unearths Huge 'Duck’s Foot' Nugget
A retired gold prospector spent hours digging up his fortune in the northern goldfields near Kambalda, Western Australia, after finding the target with his metal detector.
Subscription Required:
The Bawl Mill
• Our Readers Say
• Gold Deposition and Gradients of Placer Streams—Part I
• Pursuing Rare Earths in Wyoming
• The Mole
• Prospecting for Copper Ores—Part I
• Repair / Replace Tax Rule Changes
• The Wisdom of Mark Twain—And Tales of Cheating the Unwary Prospector
• Colorado Mining Association Appeals Roadless Ruling
• Ganes Creek Hits 10 Years—Part II
• Fifteen and Counting
• Melman on Gold & Silver
• Mining Stock Quotes and Mineral & Metal Prices
Free:
Legislative and Regulatory Update
• Bigger and Better—Gold Prospecting & Mining Summit Recap