Prospecting & Detecting
The Half-Mile Claim
December 2019 by William Hepler
We dug and extracted for two more hours. This time, as I dumped the concentrates, I saw a piece of gold three-fourths of an inch long and as big around as a pencil.
The Hunt for Remote Canyon Gold

California Sniping
I opted for the underwater portion of the river. All I have to do is float down the river and pick large flakes and small nuggets out of cracks and crevices while staying cool in the summer heat.
Fells Flat Gold

21st Century American Gold Rush: Rare Earth Elements
The burning question I needed answered was why didn’t the deposit ever get mined of at least one of the valuable minerals? A couple of reasons have come to light.
The Coolgardie Gold Mining Camp of Southern California
The area was mined intermittently from around 1900 to 1915, but was also mined in the late 1800s, with a total output valued at about $100,000, which is around $9.5 million at the current gold price.
Selenium, Mercury and Suction Dredging—Studies Contradict CA State Water Resources Board
Federal and state regulatory agencies often cite mercury and methyl mercury in our waterways as a major factor for further restrictions on placer mining, and on suction gold dredge mining, in particular. However, these regulatory agencies are minimizing selenium and its neutralizing effects.
Prospecting for Surface Flood Gold Placers on Low and Intermediate Gradient Streams

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The Bawl Mill
• Ask The Experts - How do I obtain a map of Montana gold & sapphire gravel bars?
• Ask The Experts - How do I process this white quartz with black striations?
• Ask The Experts - Does gravel + bedrock = gold?
• Back to Green Valley--With A Sluice
• A Lesson In Underwater Sniping
• More Fiddling While Forests Burn
• Achieving Accurate Metal Detector Discrimination
• My New Passion--Crystal Hunting
• Melman on Gold & Silver
• Mining Stock Quotes and Mineral & Metal Prices
• Gold Prospecting for Better or Worse: White Knuckle Mining
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Legislative and Regulatory Update
• Unique Rare Earth Mine in Texas
• Gold in The Midwest--Part I
• PLP Update: Another Suction Dredge Case Heading to the US Supreme Court