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

VLF Detector Operating Modes

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

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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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
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Legislative and Regulatory Update
• Bigger and Better—Gold Prospecting & Mining Summit Recap