Prospecting & Detecting
My Explosive Introduction to Gold Mining
August 2021 by Jon Carter
My friend came walking in from the garage with what looked to me like a stick of dynamite. Chuckling, he said, “Have you ever been gold mining?”
In my head I was thinking, “Not at 3 am in the morning with dynamite.”
Detecting: Getting Away From The Heat And Into The Gold
Within a very few minutes, I had my first nice sounding target. It turned out to be a nice earring-size gold piece that was about a half a gram.
Just One More Time
We chose this particular area because an old channel had run here at one point and had been heavily worked on top of a mountain hilltop. Erosion patterns cut deeply on each side, leaving the channel exposed. The erosion cut sharply, dropping into ravines far below.
Mutiny on The Mason
We decided to check some spots that were pretty good to us on previous trips. The detector was deceptively simple with few buttons and auto-ground balance.
The Dredge Report
As a plaintiff in one of the lawsuits, I’m not allowed to talk about specifics in the court-ordered negotiations currently underway in San Bernardino. However, I do want to let you know we are making progress…
The “Chuck It Out” Nugget
This was no ordinary nugget. It had not traveled very far from its nearby source, and that did mean a lot, as we were searching for the source of several such nuggets found during a gold rush that occurred in 1859.
The Underground Mining Adventure Continues
Our group of independent miners have been busy crafting a uniquely designed ladder/ore cart track from the bottom of an 85-foot mine shaft in a historical hard rock mine.
How to Stake Your Own Mining Claims—Part II
I’d like to offer some practical comments about staking and maintaining mining claims. Owning your own claim is the dream of many prospectors. I’ve made good money off my mining claims, both from the minerals I have found on them as well as from leasing out some of my claims to larger mining and exploration companies.
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The Bawl Mill
• Ask The Experts - Are pulse induction detectors the right tech for gold?
• Ask The Experts - Why can’t I find gold with my detector?
• Ask The Experts - Are two rock crushing machines (jaw crusher and chain crusher) necessary?
• Ask The Experts - Why am I finding only coarse gold, not fines in this area?
• Ask The Experts - Is the amount of gold reserves claimed by mining companies real or just hype?
• How To Identify Minerals
• Chasing Hard Rock Gold As A Placer Deposit
• Gold Prospecting for Better or Worse: Bumbling Through A Gold Bonanza
• How Mesothermal/Orogenic Gold Deposits Form
• Georgetown CA: A Historically Rich Mother Lode Treasure
• Reminder: Annual Claim Filings and Fees Due
• Melman on Gold & Silver
• Mining Stock Quotes and Mineral & Metal Prices
