Prospecting & Detecting
Residual Placers: An Often Overlooked Gold Source
December 2021 by Chris Ralph
Because the forces of erosion and gravity tend to carry lighter materials like quartz away more easily, the heavy minerals like gold or silver will tend to be concentrated in the general area around the vein outcrop. These concentrations are what make residual placers so attractive.
Bedrock Nugget Hunting: Tools of the Trade
As a guide to those who are thinking of taking up this activity or those who currently practice this trade, I have created a listing of the primary tools and equipment I use when nugget hunting.
Sniping for Drought Gold
There are not a lot of tools needed to get out and take advantage of the situation. Other than my wetsuit, I typically travel light with a gold pan, maybe a pry bar and a few crevice cleaning tools.
Australian Gold Adventure
I had my heart set on finding a large nugget on this trip, and it seemed to me that pounding known patches was not likely to turn up a monster. Inevitably I would spend at least half my day wandering off...
How to Upgrade Your Pocket Plunger
These three simple upgrades, when taken together, will considerably increase a pocket plunger’s magnetic pull and make it less susceptible to breakage.
Roads to Nowhere
What today appears to be a “road to nowhere” was once a road to somewhere. At today’s precious metal prices that somewhere can be of great importance to you.
Summertime Gold Panning
I have smaller pans for cleaning black sand concentrates, big pans for taking large samples, pans with corners for pouring out materials, and pans with lots of special riffles. This variation is why I have so many pans—they each have their specialty.
Finding Gold Beyond Your Detector
The lesson of keeping one’s eyes open to other possibilities is one of the great secrets of successful prospecting. Prospectors need to always be on the lookout for opportunities.
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The Bawl Mill
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