Prospecting & Detecting
What Have You Got to Lose?
November 2016 by Chris Ralph
It’s accepted knowledge that wet methods will recover more fine gold than dry methods and processing the gravel as a whole will get more gold than only using a metal detector. The question is how much more?
My Lucky Month of March
My wife Maureen and I spend part of our winter season in the Quartzsite, Arizona area. One fine March morning, we left our RV camping area at approximately 10am in search of that elusive yellow metal with our metal detectors.
Lost Sally's Gold
She said a few thoughts did cross her mind at the time; she thought maybe she should have looked more thoroughly for that hand-drawn map to the claim that we had given her the previous year.
Following the Clues
It took me awhile before I finally got a nice mellow signal. My nugget turned out to weigh in about two dwt (pennyweight). Over the next few hours, we all picked up a few more nuggets apiece.
A Break in the Weather
Back at the entry point of the mine, we took turns slowly crawling down the slope leading into the mine portal with our metal detectors, hard hats and flashlights. The mine was hand dug and is about 75 yards long.
Moore Creek, Alaska—Then and Now
The gold was very chunky and much of it had quartz attached. Even back then I knew that the gold was very close to its source.
Using Favorable Rock Types to Find More Gold
The more experienced prospectors know these lesser known spots are the types of places where big finds are still made.
Placers Directly Associated with Lode Deposits
Placers that are directly associated with lode deposits are sometimes overlooked and may have good potential for those who are willing to search for them.
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