The "Madonna Nugget"—A Weekend Hunt to Remember

July 2017 by Tom Reyes

I worked my way to a flat area along a ridge where I could see a quartz blowout. As I got within 100 feet of it, I started seeing rock that I knew to be associated with gold.

The Smell of Gold—Part I

June 2015
Some claim they can smell gold. This may be, but when I take a whiff of gold, I smell dirt, rotten eggs, garlic or just nothing: my nose is everything but sensitive.

Out of the Ashes—New Access to Gold

November 2018

As I arrived at my detecting location, I got all my gear and headed up the trail. I had to stop and take in the devastation all around me.

Just One More Time

July 2016
We chose this particular area because an old channel had run here at one point and had been heavily worked on top of a mountain hilltop. Erosion patterns cut deeply on each side, leaving the channel exposed. The erosion cut sharply, dropping into ravines far below.

Roads to Nowhere

November 2018

What today appears to be a “road to nowhere” was once a road to somewhere. At today’s precious metal prices that somewhere can be of great importance to you.

Thinking Outside The Creek

March 2015
Imagine for a minute the year is 1850. You’ve read and heard that gold was discovered in California and the creeks are so rich you can just scoop it up with your hands.

Iowa Hill District

June 2012
For the last two years we’ve held a hands-on prospectors training session in the Iowa Hill district of California’s Mother Lode country as a part of our Gold Prospecting and Mining Summit event. Because of this, I thought it might be good to take a look at the history, geology and opportunities that the Iowa Hill district still offers to the individual prospector.

Fortymile, Alaska Prospecting Adventure

August 2013
Some creeks have nuggets, while others, particulary the rivers, nothing but fine gold.

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