Prospecting & Detecting
Overcoming Repeated Skunks
March 2022 by Reese Townes
When hunting for nuggets does not yield any gold for a couple days, it can get pretty frustrating. But it turns into serious mental anguish when it stretches into weeks or months.
Key to Successful Prospecting: Confidence
The one undeniable truth in prospecting is that the more time you spend in the field, the more gold you will find. Here are a few keys I use to help build my confidence.
Still Gold in Humbug, Arizona
Has anyone made it through childhood, or even adulthood, without at least one dream of finding gold or buried treasure? It is the stuff of daydreams—the kindling for the flame of hope. We so long for it that we eagerly accept stories and maps from friends and strangers alike that promise us fame and fortune.
Ask the Experts
• Using drywashers to work desert gravels
Pocket Gold
Once a seam is found it can be traced for miles in either direction. While you are tracing a clay line, you are looking for indicators. The indicators that I look for are ironstone, hematite, different color clays intermingled with the clay line, and a very iron-rich, brown gritty soil.
Mining Claims: Breaking All The Commandments
So, I took the plunge. I decided on the maximum I would pay for the claim, then placed my bid. A day later I received a congratulations e-mail that I was the high bidder, and oh, by the way, send us your money.
How to Beat the Heat--and The Bedrock
The pit was a classic one—exposed shale bedrock with all the material being washed out one end of the pit. Within a few minutes I had a nice mellow signal that was in open ground.
Detectors: Past, Present and Future
Detectors were invented long before I was born, but it was in the 1960s when they started to become an item popular enough to power a fledgling industry. The key development was miniature transistor technology replacing the old fashioned tube technology of the 1950s, making lightweight, affordable detectors possible.
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The Bawl Mill
• Ask The Experts - My detector only finds bullets
• Ask The Experts - Any tips on finding gold in Colorado?
• Ask The Experts - Should I be seeing black sands in the tailings of my sluice box?
• Ask The Experts - How do I sell my gold?
• Ask The Experts - Is Welsh gold more valuable?
• Finding Gold With A Simple Sluice Box
• Detecting A Trashy Area
• Winter Prospecting
• Are You Being Followed?
• Critical Minerals Update
• Butte County: Another Mother Lode Favorite
• Welcome to Nothing
• Melman on Gold & Silver
• Mining Stock Quotes and Mineral & Metal Prices
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Legislative and Regulatory Update
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• Crisson Gold Mine Robbed At Gunpoint
