Prospecting & Detecting
Watch Out for Split Estates When Filing Your Claim
December 2017 by Bryon Tolle
The only thing that saved me was talking to a local miner who gave me a “heads up” that private individuals owned all the mineral rights in that section.
Mass Wasting & Gold Deposits
Not all of these slides and debris flows will produce results, but if you search for these while prospecting in your gold producing areas, then you can increase your odds of finding new gold.
Southern Oregon's Illinois River—A Lesson in Sharing
Our theory was that a dredge would collect far more material in a shorter period of time, leaving us with ounces of gold every day.
Detecting Old Ground Sluice Locations
Ground sluicing, surfacing and scratching are a few names given to the recovery of gold in shallow areas. Where I live, the hills are dotted with small surface diggings.
The Gold Of Horseshoe Bend
And we eventually reached gold. It was a winding crevice of beautiful white quartz lined with small nuggets and loaded with fine gold. There were flakes and small granular pieces—there had to be a hundred or more.
Revisiting an Old Mine in Idaho Reaps Rewards
Our research indicated this whole area had been claimed by Newmont mining company for several years, but when the price of gold dropped they let the claims expire, and we confirmed this with the local BLM office.
The Value of Old Patches
Nuggets make for the best memories and this patch was just adding to mine. In the hours of daylight I had left, I worked from that nugget to the bottom of the patch, collecting eight more nuggets.
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.
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The Bawl Mill
• Legislative and Regulatory Update
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• Detecting the Fringe Areas
• Butte, Montana—The Richest Hill on Earth
• Conrey Dredge No. 4—Part II
• California: The Land of Big Nuggets—Part I
• Gold Detecting Strategies for Hydraulic Mines and Debris Flows
• New Technology for Extracting Lithium To Be Tested in Nevada
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