Prospecting & Detecting
What's Left Behind
December 2012 by Michael Greyshock
I love to see old-timer workings while I am out detecting for gold. For one thing, it assures me that gold came from there. Second, it tells me gold should almost certainly still be there.
Detecting Strategies for Heavily Forested Areas
Looking for nugget laden bedrock in forested mountain regions, you first need to explore the banks of the gold-bearing streams and look for the bedrock that is exposed as this is your starting point.
Panning for Gold on Canyon Creek
I was able to remove the gravels with the assistance of a crowbar and I scooped them up with a garden trowel. This gravel contained over a pennyweight of gold and there were several 2-grain and 3-grain pieces…
Gold Prospecting: For Better or Worse
We all love to see that first glimmer of gold when it peeks out from under the black sand in our pan, or feel the weight of a nugget in our scoop when we dig a good target. But sometimes things don’t go quite so smoothly.
Bedrock Nugget Hunting: Tools of the Trade
As a guide to those who are thinking of taking up this activity or those who currently practice this trade, I have created a listing of the primary tools and equipment I use when nugget hunting.
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.
One Potato, Two Potato...
Normally the detector he was using would sound off with a definitive high-to-low tone when passed over a piece of gold, which distinguished the gold from the many high iron content "hot rocks," but this one was different...
Detectors: Past, Present and Future
Detectors were invented long before I was born, but it was in the 1960s when they started to become an item popular enough to power a fledgling industry. The key development was miniature transistor technology replacing the old fashioned tube technology of the 1950s, making lightweight, affordable detectors possible.
Subscription Required:
The Bawl Mill
• Ask the Experts
• Legislative and Regulatory Update
• Prospecting for Gold at Green Valley
• Extraction of Precious Metals Using Froth Flotation
• Detecting Old Ground Sluice Locations
• Mineral Deposit Trends: Real and Imaginary
• Four Arrested for California Mining Museum Heist
• Scams, Scammers and Schemes
• Lawsuit Update From the New 49'ers
• Constitutional Sheriffs Standing Up for Our Rights
• Melman on Gold & Silver
• Mining Stock Quotes and Mineral & Metal Prices
Free:
Ask the Experts
• Detecting at the Sixteen to One Mine
