Prospecting & Detecting
What Equipment Do I Need?
October 2014 by Chris Ralph
Getting started in prospecting often requires the purchase of some equipment, but one can spend as little as $10 and be finding gold or spend thousands and also be finding gold—yet you will probably have many more opportunities and possibilities with more and better equipment.
Iowa Hill District
For the last two years we’ve held a hands-on prospectors training session in the Iowa Hill district of California’s Mother Lode country as a part of our Gold Prospecting and Mining Summit event. Because of this, I thought it might be good to take a look at the history, geology and opportunities that the Iowa Hill district still offers to the individual prospector.
What, Where and How for the New Prospector
How to go about the entire process of prospecting is a big question. The answer comes down to research and preparation.
Cold Alaskan Gold—Part II
I decided to focus my attention on some exposed bedrock that was along a little stream only about 100 yards from our cabins. My very first pan full of gravel showed several nice small flakes that were just big enough to be picked up with my fingers. That first pan showed that indeed there was some very nice gold to be had here...
Prospecting Knowledge -- Pass It On!
I had two of the guys go down into the creek and each one picked out a small island of bedrock. I had them detect their piece of bedrock and then gave a critique to all on how they did.
Tyrie's Roadway Nugget
I will have to admit, I actually was brought to tears just thinking about what I had just done. I knew the gold was there, but I never thought I would be so fortunate to find such a prize nugget.
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.
Ganes Creek Hits 10 Years—Part II
You keep all you find at Ganes, with weekly tallies kept for a loose competition that I find helps motivate me. I seriously try to find more nuggets than anyone else in a given week, and usually make it or close to it.
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The Bawl Mill
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• Ask the Experts
• Ganes Creek After The Flood
• Operation And Application Of Magnetometers
• A Trip to Morgan-Monroe State Forest of Indiana
• The Pedro Gold Dredge
• Detecting Alone -- What to Look For
• Over the Divide: John A. Miscovich
• Why Did This Silver Mine Close?
• Melman on Gold & Silver
• Mining Stock Quotes and Mineral & Metal Prices
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