Once you have determined that the land is locatable, the next step in the claim research process is to determine if the land has already been claimed by a previous locator.

Within this area, about two million ounces of gold and fifty million ounces of silver have been mined. Faults, dikes, veins and fissures that carry the ore form a concentric radial pattern—like spokes on a wagon wheel—around the caldera core.

There is always an overwhelming feeling when finding gold of any size, but one like this doesn’t come along very often.

“The evidence is clear—mineral deposits alone are not enough to attract precious commodity investment dollars...”

The nugget sat there in plain sight, though it was covered in dirt, while hundreds of people had passed that way every day.