Prospecting & Detecting
Our 29-Troy-Ounce Golden Blessing
December 2013 by Kevin Hamel
After twenty-plus years of metal detecting in the gold country, I thought I had seen just about everything, including coins, gold nuggets, and some very nice relics.
With summer winding down, my wife and I decided to go try our luck detecting at some old, family-owned 
private property east of Sacramento. I took along my conventional VLF detector, my Pro-Spector Gold Locator, and Accumeter Pro resistivity meter in the SUV as we headed for Highway 49 via US 50 to the property.
I also found an 1848 dime near an old cabin on the property, which led me to further investigate this area.
In the past, I located some nice two- and three-gram nuggets and even a 3/4-ounce nugget in a nearby creek with my detectors, so I knew our property had potential.
We unloaded our equipment upon arrival and I decided to start working with the Accumeter on the east side of the property and work my way west. After about an hour of setting up and sending carrier waves, I got a hit in the area of my number 2 rod. At this point I got a little excited and knew I needed to box in the target. Using the Pro-Spector Locator, I was able to confirm a hit in the same general target area so I got a bit more excited. I called my wife over and explained to her that I had a potential target in a particular area. We had been praying for several years for God to bless our efforts when we went out detecting and treasure hunting!
In an area of about 10 or 12 feet, I boxed in the target. I was anxious to pinpoint the target, so I decided to give my conventional detector a shot.After about two or three minutes, the detector screamed with a good, non-ferrous signal. I dug down about a foot and a half with my pick and shovel when I found the target. I picked up a noticeably heavy, fist-sized chunk of what I thought was a heavy piece of iron. After wiping some dirt and clay off, I still didn’t know what on earth this object was. A few minutes later, I told my wife I would leave the chunk over by the tree and look at it closer later on. She decided she would carry it in her pocket so we wouldn’t have to go back and retrieve it. Later on, we were both getting hungry and tired so we decided to wind things up.
Before walking the equipment back to the SUV, I decided to look at the chunk a little closer. I carefully scraped off the top and noticed the yellow, metallic color—I think my blood pressure went through the roof! I told my wife that I thought we should head for home so I could check it out further there.
Once we got home, I carefully washed off the dirt and red clay and, to my surprise, I could see gold metal all through this object. After examining it more closely I noticed that it was in the shape of a crucible.
The clump is definitely gold! It appears that some old-timer had poured his gold into a crucible and somehow it was left behind! It’s total weight is over twenty-nine troy ounces!
From previous experience, I know that gold recovered in the general area is well over 90% purity, though we haven’t had this piece tested yet.
We were both completely overjoyed and thankful to God for this unique blessing!
I hope this story motivates others as much as it does my wife and me. Good luck out there!
A Good Start
We split up in order to cover a larger area and found good color almost everywhere. The bedrock was shallow on both sides of the river, but the inside bend was where we concentrated our prospecting.
The Alaska Highway and Beyond
My first clean-up showed that my efforts were not in vain. There was considerable color with some good-sized nuggets in the riffle trap.
Prospecting for Gold at Green Valley
In October, five of us decided to take an exploration trip into an area called Green Valley. This was perhaps ten miles upstream from where we had gone in September and the difficulty was access. One would think that based on the name it was an easily accessible area not far from a nearby town. This couldn’t be more wrong.
Drywashing Without A Drywasher
After trading for a specialized gold detector, my gold finds went up in a hurry. Even though those older gold detectors were pretty good, things have changed a lot since then.
Back to Green Valley--With A Sluice
As I planned for my trips, I concentrated on how to lighten my pack yet still carry enough gear to make the trip productive and enjoyable.
Highbanking for Gold
Pumps can be set up quite a distance away horizontally from the sluice, even hundreds of feet. It will work so long as there is sufficient water at the source where the pump is located. Vertical distance is more of a problem than horizontal distance; 30 to 40 feet is the maximum vertical climb for most pumps.
The Fine Art of Panning Heavy Sands
The fine art of panning heavy sands requires a measure of patience. If you enjoy panning gold, you ought to enjoy this too, once you get the hang of it.
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