Prospecting & Detecting
Sold: 87-Ounce Nugget
April 2016 by Scott Harn
A gold prospector in central Victoria, Australia stumbled across an 87-ounce gold nugget in early February 2015, after his wife told him to head outside to get some air. He had given up smoking a few weeks prior and was getting a bit “grumpy,” she told him.
A Model Mining Operation
After he excavates the ore down to bedrock, he goes over the bedrock with a metal detector to ensure he didn't leave any gold behind before he backfills the area.
Swing and a Miss
A very good baseball hitter might get a hit roughly one time out of every three at-bats, but for prospectors often the results are much sparser and it may take many trips before the prospector hits a home run.
Detectors Versus Pans
Mike scored the best with a total of one-half ounce of gold nuggets. Tom, Brian and Greg each had pieces in the one and a half pennyweight range. The rest of us had small gold and nothing like these three.
How Long Does It Take to Find and Recover An Ounce of Gold?
Some ask if a prospector can collect an entire ounce in a day. It is possible; I’ve done it before.
Looking for that Hidden Placer
I detect in a wide array of situations. I like to search for places that no one has been to. I really like to find areas that have never been worked at all.
Romancing the Lens
...a large number of these aspiring miners developing their operations seemed to have missed "Placer Mining 101" somewhere along the way.
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.
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