Prospecting & Detecting
The Heavy Minerals in Your Concentrates
June 2016 by Chris Ralph

Speed Prospecting for Hard Rock Gold
An online video gave me some ideas, and with a lot of trial and error I developed a reliable method of panning free gold particles down below 35 microns quickly and easily.
Who Jumped Whose Claim First?
At this point, stress raised my blood pressure and I was figuring out escape routes through the brush, but thought it best to continue the conversation.
Recent Prospecting in Plumas County

Highbanking for Gold
Pumps can be set up quite a distance away horizontally from the sluice, even hundreds of feet. It will work so long as there is sufficient water at the source where the pump is located. Vertical distance is more of a problem than horizontal distance; 30 to 40 feet is the maximum vertical climb for most pumps.
All About Quartz—Part I
One of the first minerals most prospectors learn to recognize is quartz, because, in the right circumstances, it can be an excellent indicator mineral for prospectors. Quartz is common, easy to identify, and is often associated with gold and other valuable metal deposits.
Using Geologic Publications to Discover Collecting Sites
I understand that a person without geological knowledge could be daunted reading a geological publication. You can pick out the good stuff from a geological publication without a lot of geological knowledge.
Ancestral Yuba River Placer Gold Deposits
The small-scale miner has reasonable opportunity to exploit some of these small, rich placer gold deposits.
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