Prospecting & Detecting
Romancing the Rock
July 2013 by Robert Flounders
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.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.
The Madonna Nugget
It was down deeper than I expected for surface trash. It wasn't until I was down six inches that the target screamed from my scoop.
Recovering Fine Gold with Oleophilic Adhesion
Oleophilic means "affinity to or attracted to oils," and this includes gold an diamonds.
Determining the Amount of Gold in Rich Ores
This is just the type of specimen that could have been easily ignored by the old-time miners. It felt a little heavier in my hand than a chunk of quartz of that size ought to have been.
Detecting in the Outback
I have always enjoyed finding things. As a kid and up through college I searched for arrowheads, rocks and fossils. One day I saw an ad for a metal detector in a magazine, and a week later I was digging up everyone’s yard...
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.
Man's Best Friend
Adam’s condition had been deteriorating every step of the way. At times, I could only coax him ten or twenty feet before he laid down again. He refused to eat or drink. At this point, I realized we might not get out of the canyon by dark and might need help getting Adam out at all.
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