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!
Detecting Alone -- What to Look For
I figure there are a lot of new people out there who have the same question. I will try to give some answers that hopefully will give you more confidence in finding your own spots.
Dry Washer, Wet System or Metal Detector?
I love to dry wash old nugget patches found by detector operators, and I have found my fair share of gold dry washing those areas. I have also found a few nuggets using a detector on the bedrock exposed by dry washing the patches.
Detector Brings New Life to An Old Lode Mine
…it was immediately evident the previous owner had not been using a detector. During just a few months of working the dumps part-time, he recovered gold in quartz specimens valued in excess of $40,000.
The Winning Hand
The operation and techniques employed are highly successful in producing free gold with minimal work involved while maintaining an environment protection process through the use of recycled water and a settling pond.
Gold in Unlikely Places
Detectors have been around for decades now. And with thousands of them swinging, many of the best or at least most likely nugget places have seen a swinging coil. The part that amazes me is that so many nuggets still get pulled out of these seemingly pounded places.
Trail to Treasure
We are both very experienced working this type of ground, and we quickly found the pay layer where we would focus our efforts. The bedrock has good gold, but so does the red hard pan.
Sierra County Gold—Part I
...this county contained some of the richest placer ground found in all of California and still produces some pretty impressive finds to this day.
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