Prospecting & Detecting
The Potholes—California’s Oldest Known Mining District
March 2020 by Dan Stanton
Every time we prospected here we found gold, sometimes some really coarse flakes, but no large nuggets (yet).
Key to Successful Prospecting: Confidence
The one undeniable truth in prospecting is that the more time you spend in the field, the more gold you will find. Here are a few keys I use to help build my confidence.
It Pays to Know Your Bedrock
On our last trip, we brought ropes and went down the first waterfall forty vertical feet, only to be confronted by a second, sixty-foot-high, overhanging waterfall that emptied into a slot canyon.
Endurance Is Golden
Feeling through the mud, I felt the weight and shape of what could only be gold. Throwing my hand in the water revealed a sixteen-gram nugget oozing with character.
The Hunch
The mysteries of this spot were only just starting to develop. There is nothing but very bland granite-type rocks here, meaning no bold, favorable indicators.
The PIGMI—a DIY Crevice Tool
I’ve had great success using it to gather gold from crevices. I’d like to share the design with all of you gold miners reading this article and hope that you get as much satisfaction building and using it as I did.
My Lucky Thirteen Nuggets
Even with my favorite top-of-the-line gold detector there were several false digs. Many of the hot rocks gave a solid signal that was too much like a nugget to ignore. After trying several tests I just dug everything because it is better to be safe than leave a big, deep nugget for a more diligent gold hunter.
Salted Mining Properties—How to Properly Evaluate a Claim
Sometimes there are good mining claims on the market available to purchase, but there are also folks out there who are willing to take your money under false pretenses. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that these wolves in sheep’s clothing are few and far between.
Subscription Required:
The Bawl Mill
• Ask The Experts -- How do I find the owners of patented property?
• Ask The Experts -- Is it worth going after these rare earth minerals?
• Ask The Experts -- Will a land mine detector work for gold?
• How to Turn Your Gold Finds Into Cash
• My First Gold Patch
• Caught Between A Hard Rock and A Rare Earth Place
• Sampling for Success—Part I
• Over The Divide: Annie Carol Robinson
• Gold Prospecting for Better or Worse: If the RV’s a Rockin’, Please Come a Knockin’
• The Mid-Winter Nugget
• Gold In The Midwest—Part III: Iowa, Missouri, and Kansas
• Trump Proposes $1.5 Billion to Fund US Uranium Production
• Mining Stock Quotes and Mineral & Metal Prices
• Melman on Gold & Silver
