Prospecting & Detecting
Southern Oregon's Illinois River—A Lesson in Sharing
November 2013 by Gary C. Earle
Our theory was that a dredge would collect far more material in a shorter period of time, leaving us with ounces of gold every day.Indicators and Hillsides
The placer gold shows up in ground sluice areas, hydraulic pits, secondary channels and hillside diggings. It is coming down the hillsides from an ancient channel left high and dry millions of years ago.
Ask The Experts
• Making a noisy dredge more quiet
Ten Detecting Tips for the Savvy Desert Prospector
Prospectors who specialize in nugget detecting are especially interested in this special desert type, as it produces nuggets that are close to the surface of the ground and therefore more suitable to be found with a detector.
Flood Plain Gold Deposits—What Are They Really?
We just completed a trip to another river, and yes, there was definite movement and redistribution of gravels, and other prospectors have seen this as well.
Placers Directly Associated with Lode Deposits
Placers that are directly associated with lode deposits are sometimes overlooked and may have good potential for those who are willing to search for them.
Hunting for Hardrock: The Basics

From Iowa to Alaska—How I Became A Gold Miner
May 18, 2019, after 26 years, I had finally saved enough money. I bought my one-way ticket to Fairbanks, Alaska, and I started off by finding a new job…
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The Bawl Mill
• Ask the Experts
• One Potato, Two Potato...
• Proper Placer Sample Processing
• Strategic Metals—Part I
• Dry Washing to Capture Fine Gold
• Are There Any Good Prospects Left?
• Ophir—Possibly the Best Kept Secret in Alaska!
• Using Sucker Guns to Find Gold
• Making Adjustments to Catch Fine Gold
• The Subsurface Suction Dredge
• A Few Thoughts About Successful Nugget Hunting
• Melman on Gold & Silver
• Mining Stock Quotes and Mineral & Metal Prices