Historically, Montana has been an important gold producer, in terms of both lodes and placers, and it still produces gold for the prospector today.

Trommels come in two basic sections. The first section is called the scrubber unit. The second is the punch plate, where the gravels and ore of a specified size drop out into a variety of sluice box recovery units.

For the prospector, knowing what oxidized hydrothermal alteration looks like in the field is an important exploration tool.

This new map-based tool is far superior to the old version with lots of potential layers and information that a prospector can use in research.

Fortunately, there are products on the market that can address these problems and make a small-scale mining operation feasible.

One of his friends had 700 feet of small-gauge mine track and a hundred-year-old track bender laying out in his back 40; plus he also wanted to join the team. Perfect.