Prospecting & Detecting
Thinking Outside The Creek
March 2015 by Shannon Poe
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.
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.
Detecting Wet Ground Yields More Fun Than Gold
We all continued over to another location at the top of a massive placer operation. Arriving at the draw, I showed everyone where gold had been found before and we all began detecting.
Mining In The El Paso Range of Southern California
While none of the historical mining camps are active, the area is still a hub of activity for the modern prospector, and claims still blanket the hills and gulches.
Sold: 87-Ounce Nugget
A gold prospector in central Victoria, Australia stumbled across an 87-ounce gold nugget in early February 2015, after his wife told him to head outside to get some air. He had given up smoking a few weeks prior and was getting a bit “grumpy,” she told him.
Creating Your Own Luck
Now that you are actually going to be out there doing some prospecting, I may be able to help.
Determining the Amount of Gold in Rich Ores
This is just the type of specimen that could have been easily ignored by the old-time miners. It felt a little heavier in my hand than a chunk of quartz of that size ought to have been.
How to Evaluate Mineral Claims—What to Know Before You Buy
Even though they have put down thousands of dollars, the buyers often stop paying on their claims part way through the process after they realize they’ve been duped, but the company just sells it again to another buyer.
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