Prospecting & Detecting
Potential Gold at Old Hydraulic Sites
October 2013 by Chris Ralph
So why would a modern-day prospector want to learn about a method of mining that was banned by the courts more than a century ago?
Persistence Leads to Over a Pound of Gold
I have figured out over the years that the winning combination is hard work, persistence, knowledge, and a little luck. This leads me to describe one of my best finds ever, a “honey hole” of placer gold, if you will.
A Golden Summer
His take of gold was pretty close to what mine was—about a quarter of an ounce. We had just gleaned about half an ounce of gold in just twenty minutes.
Hit the Slopes to Find More Gold
Watching for these areas is one of my primary targets during the winter. It doesn’t take but a few inches of the surface moving away to give a fantastic target response that you didn’t hear prior to the washing of the surface.
Blackberries and Gold
There were iron stains all over and even a few places where I could see iron trash sticking out of the bedrock. These would be ideal spots to start with as the gold travels with the iron and lead.
The Smell of Gold—Part I
Some claim they can smell gold. This may be, but when I take a whiff of gold, I smell dirt, rotten eggs, garlic or just nothing: my nose is everything but sensitive.
The Significance of Nuggets in Placers
Chances are better that both types of gold did not come from the same source. Let's look at the probable conditions to cause two types of gold in a placer.
Search Coils and Techniques
This article is intended to try to help someone who is breaking into gold detecting and using a pulse induction (PI) detector.
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The Bawl Mill
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• A Few Pointers About Cracks and Crevices
• Hunting for Gold in the Quartzsite Area of Western Arizona
• The Madonna Nugget
• The Alaska Highway and Beyond
• It's Hard to Find Gold!
• Partner Withdraws from Pebble Project
• Highbanking at the 144
• California State Panning Championships—Foresthill, CA Heritage Celebration
• Prospecting Tales: Forest Service, Fires and Bears—Oh My!
• Melman on Gold & Silver
• Mining Stock Quotes and Mineral & Metal Prices
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Legislative and Regulatory Update
• Research and Fieldwork Yield Some Promising Gold
