Metal Detecting Old Hard Rock Mine Dumps

May 2018 by Chris Ralph

The type of mine dump that is best for metal detecting are the ones that consist of mixed sizes of rock and are located near some sort of excavation, commonly a shaft or adit. Sometimes the piles located along a trench dug by the miners can be productive as well.

An Alaskan in the Lower 48

July 2013
Our destination was some old hydraulic workings where the old miners had washed literally mountains of material away to expose gold in ancient river channels.

Find of a Lifetime

May 2013
My metal detecting hobby began about ten years ago when I bought a used metal detector for about $300. I got it specifically to look for meteorites. It was pretty much worthless, not user friendly, and I did not find anything with it.

Detecting at the Sixteen to One Mine

December 2012
A while back I was given a very special opportunity to take my metal detector to one of the most famous gold mines in all of California, the Original Sixteen to One mine in Alleghany.

Time to Stake Your Own Mining Claim

February 2020

So let’s dive in and see what I can do to convince you that this is the year you should be out staking your own claims.

Give That Club Claim A Chance

August 2015

My first trip to the claim was the tip-off that there might be larger gold to be found. I brought my puffer drywasher and my dad to a local prospecting club outing that was held at the claim.

California Gold Adventure

January 2014
All locations gave up some gold, but one particular section of exposed bedrock with steep, packed crevices kept giving us good, consistent results. We had found our spot.

Sluicing and Detecting Downstream

July 2020

…early last fall, I found my first gold-rich patch along a few crevices in the same river and found five grams of gold nuggets in one outing.

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