Prospecting & Detecting
Trying Out the New Highbanker
February 2012 by Tom Leftwich
The 2011 gold season had finally got underway on the Middle Fork of the Feather River near Quincy, California. Cold weather and high water had pushed gold mining into mid-summer, but things were looking up.
Companion Gold
Easing around the bedrock ledges and rock hopping, Terry and I came out into the open and were looking at a nice run of bedrock.
A Prospecting Adventure in Mexico
There you’re expected to be personally responsible in making decisions, and yes, it can be costly. When you are responsible for your own life, you live life more, and with it you certainly risk more.
Detecting Old Pocket Diggings
Looking around, I could tell that this was an old hand-digging. As I walked around the perimeter of the digging I could see shovel and pick marks scratched on the clean, hard clay and bedrock.
Prospector Unearths Huge 'Duck’s Foot' Nugget
A retired gold prospector spent hours digging up his fortune in the northern goldfields near Kambalda, Western Australia, after finding the target with his metal detector.
Detecting During Summer Heat
This concept of detecting does not always work as we sometimes get a week or so where the temperatures rise to 116°—sometimes more.
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.
Digging It Dry
I believe dry washing is an underappreciated prospecting method. There are plenty of places where there is some pretty decent gold to be had, but the spot is a long way from any water and dry processing may well be the best way to go.
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