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.
Detecting for Gold: A Return to Familiar Ground
I probably swung over a few targets without noticing them. My first target came about ten minutes later as I went over a part of the high bench in this wide section of the dry wash.
A Walk Through The Gold Indicators
The question that most new people have is, “What do I detect?” Most people have a picture in their mind of what it takes to make what they are seeing a good place to detect. This is what I will try to sort out for you.
California to Allow Suction Dredging in 2019?
There are a few questions you will need to ask yourself before you apply for a suction dredge permit from the State Water Resources Control Board.
Mother Lode Leaf Gold
After removing about six inches of dirt and cobbles, the sound was a bit more recognizable. I was now confident that there was a definite target and not just a ground noise.
Ask The Experts
• Making a noisy dredge more quiet
Prospecting Australia—Part III Anatomy of a Nugget Patch in Western Australia
One of the most memorable nuggets I found in Australia was detected on the very last day that I was out prospecting. I was going along swinging my coil and I came across a blaring loud signal that almost blew my ears off.
Creating Your Own Luck
Now that you are actually going to be out there doing some prospecting, I may be able to help.
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• Ask The Experts - Will a rare earth magnet work for finding gold deposits?
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• A Short History of Hydraulic Mining in California
• Gold Basin & Mass Wasting
• How Far To The Gold?
• Gold Prospecting for Better or Worse: Warm Buttocks and Frozen Assets
• The Joys of Desert Prospecting
• Melman on Gold & Silver
• Mining Stock Quotes and Mineral & Metal Prices
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