Prospecting & Detecting
Prospecting on the North Yuba
December 2011 by Don Robinson

My Introduction To Gold Prospecting
At the end of the day, Jerry showed me how to clean out the sluice box and then how to pan out the concentrates. As we finished panning, there it was—a little tiny smile of gold...
Old Water Channels Provide Important Clues
After washing the top sixty to ninety feet of gravel, the old- timers hit the bedrock. The bedrock paid one-eighth to one-half of an ounce to the square foot…
Geobotany: Plants Associated With Mineral Deposits

Procuring Mine Owner Permission at a Mine Site
The first experience involved an overgrown gold mine operated during the 1880s. A razed mill adjoined the mine and could be glimpsed from the isolated public dirt road I was traveling.
Romancing the Rock
With the exception of well-established operators with proven reserves and years of field experience, the high price of gold brought a flood of speculators, con men, and real estate brokers into the mix who were not previously engaged in the gold mining market.
Montana Gold and Sapphires Revisited
I had a chance to visit the operation in person and talk with Neal. I was very impressed and I think our readers could learn a lot about building up a commercial placer operation from scratch…
How to Stake Your Own Mining Claims—Part II
I’d like to offer some practical comments about staking and maintaining mining claims. Owning your own claim is the dream of many prospectors. I’ve made good money off my mining claims, both from the minerals I have found on them as well as from leasing out some of my claims to larger mining and exploration companies.
Subscription Required:
The Bawl Mill
• Our Readers Say
• Ask the Experts—Looking up mining claims on the Internet
• Ask the Experts—Access to mining claim across private land
• Ask the Experts—Best way to identify calaverite and sylvanite
• Legislative and Regulatory Update
• WSGS Releases New Geologic Maps
• Yesterday's Gold—Today's Mine
• Prospecting Australia—Part III Anatomy of a Nugget Patch in Western Australia
• Nevada Miners: Check Your Claim Markers
• Managers at Fault for Two Deaths at Meikle Mine
• Cold Water Gold
• River Dredging vs. Creek Dredging—Part I
• Melman on Gold & Silver
• Mining Stock Quotes and Mineral & Metal Prices
Free:
Ask the Experts—How do you determine how far a piece of gold has traveled in a stream?
• Where to Find Gold in Indiana
• Testing Ores for Free Gold