Prospecting & Detecting
Tips for Cleaning Gold Nuggets
June 2019 by Ron Kliewer
I pulled out the nuggets I had worked on previously and looked at the size of the wire basket that the items to be cleaned are placed into. It looks much like a miniature french fry deep fryer.
Recent Prospecting in Plumas County
Plumas has been historically rich in gold because of its favorable geology. The Melones Fault trends north-south through the county and many rich gold-bearing districts lie along its course.
The Pothole Patch
"Suh-wheet!" I exclaimed as I sprang to my feet and quickly pumped my detector coil high overhead to alert Smokey that I had just found a nugget.
A Good Start
We split up in order to cover a larger area and found good color almost everywhere. The bedrock was shallow on both sides of the river, but the inside bend was where we concentrated our prospecting.
Tips for Detecting Nugget Patches
How To File A Mining Claim
Filing claims is actually quite easy, though there are a number of pitfalls that you should watch out for. Over the years, I have made just about every mistake you can with a mining claim, and have learned a few things to watch out for along the way.
Give That Club Claim A Chance
My first trip to the claim was the tip-off that there might be larger gold to be found. I brought my puffer drywasher and my dad to a local prospecting club outing that was held at the claim.Prospecting for Pegmatites
…in some cases pegmatites have produced individual mineral crystals that are enormous, attaining lengths of over 40 feet long, and many of the world’s largest mineral crystals are examples that were found within pegmatite deposits.
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