Prospecting & Detecting
Sluicing and Detecting Downstream
July 2020 by Matteo Oberto
…early last fall, I found my first gold-rich patch along a few crevices in the same river and found five grams of gold nuggets in one outing.
The Highs and Lows of Drywashing
We were met with a plethora of mechanical problems with the dry washer and even a few with the excavator that were at times frustrating, but we were in this for the long haul, so we needed to solve these problems and move forward.
Papa's Got A Brand New Dredge!
It was time to prime the pump and start the engine! Dan’s priming method is to use a small, submersible, 12-volt pump. My priming method is to use a hand-operated diaphragm pump.
Metal Detector Testing Methods
It will not be any easier than on your table at home, and so testing a very small test target like the ballpoint pen can tell you immediately if a detector is suitable for looking for tiny gold nuggets.Rediscovering Placerville, California Part II
To get to the gold, the miners had to remove the shale pieces and stack them on the sides while sluicing the remaining material through their boxes.
Mud Men: Pocket Miners of Southwest Oregon Part III
The amount of gold in the traces from the low-grade scattered veinlets may be much more than the traces from the small but rich pocket, at least until the pocket hunter closes in on the rich pocket. Further confusion arises if the prospector stumbles across a placer deposit on one of the higher peaks.
Confluence Placers
Confluences of placer streams are well known as concentration sites for heavy minerals. The basic reason is that...
Reminder: Annual Claim Filings Due
Mining claimants who wish to retain their mining claims on Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service lands through the 2021 assessment year must pay a maintenance fee or file a maintenance fee waiver certificate on or before September 1…
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The Bawl Mill
• Ask The Experts - Can GPR be used for lode prospecting?
• Ask The Experts - How do I extract gold from pyrite?
• Ask The Experts - Should I dig faint sounds with no indicator bars while detecting?
• Ask The Experts - Should the detector sound on iron and nickel in a gold area?
• Hard Rock 101: Micro Blasting
• Tips and Tricks
• Gold Prospecting for Better or Worse: Does Caliche Grow?
• 10 Keys to Prospecting Like A Pro
• Polymetallic Skarn Deposits
• Practical Advice for Milling Hard Rock Ores
• Speed Prospecting for Hard Rock Gold
• Forrest Fenn Treasure Chest Finally Found?
• Melman on Gold & Silver
• Mining Stock Quotes and Mineral & Metal Prices
