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.Understanding Skim Bar Placers
Perhaps the most notable thing about skim placers is that they form on the top surface of gravel bars, as opposed to coarser gold placers where the weight of the gold particles allows the gold to settle down on or near bedrock.
Hard Rock Milling: A Matter of Scale
Most prospectors understand placer mining a lot better than hard rock mining and don’t realize the amount of work that goes into processing different types of hard rock ore.
VLF Detector Operating Modes
It is important to note that discrimination is a type of electronic filtering. The signal is analyzed, and depending on the discrimination setting, identified as either a target to be dug or a target to be ignored.
Cherry-Picking for Gold Nuggets
We have a location where nuggets over an ounce have been detected over the past twenty years. This location is a small hilltop on which an ancient river channel once flowed.
Ask the Experts
• What to prospect with on the Klamath River
Buying a Mining Claim: Questions to Ask
At one time or another, many miners will look seriously at purchasing a mining claim...Usually it’s a significant financial commitment, so how do you know if you are getting a good deal?
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.
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• Repair / Replace Tax Rule Changes
• The Wisdom of Mark Twain—And Tales of Cheating the Unwary Prospector
• Colorado Mining Association Appeals Roadless Ruling
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