Prospecting & Detecting
It's Hard to Find Gold!
October 2013 by Steve Herschbach
...even the best prospectors have times when they do not find gold. It is all about taking chances against tough odds and succeeding.Resurrecting An Old Hard Rock Mine
There were nice sections of vein material at the end of several drifts, like they just stopped work one day and walked away.
Gold Detecting Strategies for Hydraulic Mines and Debris Flows
The old timers typically washed these areas down to bedrock, and some areas appear terraced. I would imagine this is because these hydraulic mines were generally where the miners found old Tertiary river channels on the sides of mountains that were gold-bearing.
Attention to Detail - Part II
Ditches almost always started in the high country and contoured the mountainsides, making a long drop, usually many miles away, to the goldfields. There are ditches in Trinity County that originate at seven and eight thousand feet in the Trinity Alps that carried water almost thirty miles.
Sampling Placer Stockpiles
Sampling other people's stockpiles or dumps has some inherent risks that sampling undisturbed ground does not have.
A Break in the Weather
Back at the entry point of the mine, we took turns slowly crawling down the slope leading into the mine portal with our metal detectors, hard hats and flashlights. The mine was hand dug and is about 75 yards long.
Cold Water Gold
It was June 2011, and my wife Fran and I with Grandson Lucas and good friend Ernie Cruz were attempting to get to our gold mining claim on the Middle Fork of the Feather River about ten miles from Quincy, California. Rain had poured down in the previous few days and the road in a large number of low places was under water. Following two hours of slugging through the mud...
California State Panning Championships—Foresthill, CA Heritage Celebration
Here's the kicker—for every lost flake there was a five minute penalty added to the time. Lost gold generally meant you didn't make it past the preliminaries.
Subscription Required:
The Bawl Mill
• EPA Tries to Intimidate Alaskan Miners
• A Few Pointers About Cracks and Crevices
• Hunting for Gold in the Quartzsite Area of Western Arizona
• The Madonna Nugget
• The Alaska Highway and Beyond
• Partner Withdraws from Pebble Project
• Highbanking at the 144
• Potential Gold at Old Hydraulic Sites
• California State Panning Championships—Foresthill, CA Heritage Celebration
• Prospecting Tales: Forest Service, Fires and Bears—Oh My!
• Melman on Gold & Silver
• Mining Stock Quotes and Mineral & Metal Prices
Free:
Legislative and Regulatory Update
• Research and Fieldwork Yield Some Promising Gold
