Prospecting & Detecting

…what adjustment can I make to my dredge that will enhance its gold-catching ability?

Rivers are not just random and accidental; streams and other drainages are what they are because of the forces of erosion acting on the bedrock.

With the recent surge of interest in gold projects, it’s about time to revisit a subject that strikes fear into the hearts of small-scale miners: Permits.

When he got home that night, he looked at the plotted points of gold and trash he had dug and saw that there was a distinct line where the gold nuggets were being found.

There is a material processing principle widely used in large milling operations to improve recovery that is poorly understood by most of the micro-mining and prospecting community...

While none of the historical mining camps are active, the area is still a hub of activity for the modern prospector, and claims still blanket the hills and gulches.

After a short time, the tailings pile can get very large, and can actually block the downstream end of the sluice box.

There are clubs with claims in the area and there’s a section of the river open to the public, but the rest of the area is claimed up so do your research first.

Due to the lockdown, I spent lots of time indoors this spring and I decided to add a drone as a faithful mate in my research.

Fortunately, there are products on the market that can address these problems and make a small-scale mining operation feasible.

The small-scale miner has reasonable opportunity to exploit some of these small, rich placer gold deposits. 

This was “pocket” country. All around were “pockets” that had been hand dug by old and new miners.

I poked my head out of the water and said, “You won’t believe what I am going to show you!”

They… create negligible fumes and much less fly rock than blasting. Below are some tips on maximizing your effectiveness with these tools.

I’ve been following the precious metals for decades, and I haven’t seen a move this powerful in many years.

The red dot on the diagram points out where the gravels there were also carrying, but not as much color. The gold was sparse below the point indicated.

May 18, 2019, after 26 years, I had finally saved enough money. I bought my one-way ticket to Fairbanks, Alaska, and I started off by finding a new job…

There are many other locations in the area where gold has been found, but Woods Creek is the most famous of the creeks and gulches in the area where the 49ers searched for that elusive yellow metal.

Let’s set up a thought experiment: Suppose you had some material that ran one ounce per ton gold, which is generally considered high grade to fantastic grade depending on the circumstances.

How big is the deposit? Are there boulders you will need to move? Do you just want to recover the nuggets or do you think there is good fine gold that you will also want to capture?