Prospecting & Detecting
Time to Stake Your Own Mining Claim
February 2020 by Chris Ralph
So let’s dive in and see what I can do to convince you that this is the year you should be out staking your own claims.
Tips & Tricks: How to Revive a Dredge Engine That’s Been Submerged
It rained over four inches that night and the creek flooded both my backyard and my workshop. When I opened the door to my workshop Christmas morning, an unwelcome sight greeted me.
Gold In The Midwest—Part II: Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio
In this article, I am going to take a look at three Midwest states and go through some of the prime places for prospectors to find nice local gold there.
A Generous Lesson on Detecting Bedrock
The signal I was hearing was coming from a vertical bedrock crack on the bank of the creek. I removed my backpack, took out my crevicing tools and started to clean out the crack when I saw a glint of gold.
Advantages of Modern Prospectors
Modern-day placer miners have many advantages over the prospectors of the gold rush days. Our prospectors can reap many benefits from accumulated knowledge of the last 100 to 150 years, which is a long and impressive list.
Getting Started
He excitedly told me he was going mining and wanted to know where he should go, how to do it, and so on. After he calmed down, I got excited. “I need to go!” was my response.
The Hunt for Remote Canyon Gold

It's Not Always El Dorado
This was “pocket” country. All around were “pockets” that had been hand dug by old and new miners.
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The Bawl Mill
• Ask The Experts - Can you explain how caliche forms?
• Ask The Experts - How does gold form?
• Ask The Experts - Do you think it’s realistic for a detectorist to recover a couple of ounces per week if working full time?
• Ask The Experts - Can you suggest proper discrimination settings for my detector?
• A Day On The Yuba River
• Determining The Optimal Crushing Size for Gravity Recovery
• Gold Prospecting for Better or Worse: The Pains of Prospecting
• To Foam or Not to Foam
• Following Man-Made Ditches to Recover More Gold
• Sixteen to One Gold Mine: Going Underground - Pt II
• All About Native Silver
• Internet Forum Gold
• Melman on Gold & Silver
• Mining Stock Quotes and Mineral & Metal Prices