Prospecting & Detecting
Placer Gold Deposits of Utah
December 2018 by Chris Ralph
The placer deposits of Utah occur in two distinct types of environments. These are 1) placers found adjacent to, and derived from, gold, silver and base-metal deposits; and 2) placers found in major rivers and derived from unknown, distant sources.
Advantages of Modern Prospectors
Modern-day placer miners have many advantages over the prospectors of the gold rush days. Our prospectors can reap many benefits from accumulated knowledge of the last 100 to 150 years, which is a long and impressive list.
Rediscovering Placerville, California
Several areas came to mind, but each was eliminated for one reason or another. One that seemed to be hanging on was the old historic mining town called Placerville.
Mining Pegmatite Deposits
With successively lower temperatures as the water mixture cools, new sets of minerals are formed and many of those stable at a higher degree of heat became subject to alteration as the temperature progressively moved lower.
Recent Prospecting in Plumas County
Plumas has been historically rich in gold because of its favorable geology. The Melones Fault trends north-south through the county and many rich gold-bearing districts lie along its course.
A Great Day On The Feather River
Mike and Machael dug in just downriver of that boulder pile and right away found good color and a few small pickers.
Diamond Prospecting in Indiana
My first personal experience with placer diamonds was on a gold prospecting trip in Indiana about 8 years ago, when a fellow prospector was cleaning his gold concentrates.
Who Jumped Whose Claim First?
At this point, stress raised my blood pressure and I was figuring out escape routes through the brush, but thought it best to continue the conversation.
Subscription Required:
The Bawl Mill
• Legislative and Regulatory Update
• Ask The Experts - LR 2000, ArcGIS, and other mapping applications
• Ask The Experts - Advice for a new prospector in Placerville, California?
• Proven Strategies for Detecting Gold
• Gold Prospecting for Better or Worse: Lesson Learned
• Resurrecting An Old Hard Rock Mine
• Time to Come Home
• Gold Indicators—What to Look for in the Goldfields
• The Rest of the Story—Detecting With Ray Mills
• Gold and Mining Stocks Will Rebound—But When?
• Melman on Gold & Silver
• Mining Stock Quotes and Mineral & Metal Prices
Free:
Ask The Experts - Can a detonation help determine the size and location of basalt?
• On the fence about subscribing? Want to check out a 3D sample issue?
• PLP Update







