Most of the time, I emphasize the importance of focusing on reliable gold producing areas. A knowledgable gold prospector will often know right where the gold is. They don’t really need to do a lot of prospecting, at least not to find gold. They can usually recover some gold in their pan without too much […]
Gold Prospecting
Most small-scale gold prospectors search for placer gold that is deposited in streams and rivers, but it can also be found in arid climates far away from existing water sources. Gold can be found using a variety of different methods. The most common way to recover gold in the water is by gold panning, but larger equipment can also be used to help prospectors recover more gold by processing more material. This page includes information on different gold mining methods.
Ground Sluicing for Gold – Trenches Cut Down to Bedrock
The methods of extracting minerals such as gold have evolved over the years as prospectors adjust their mining methods in order to maximize recovery of the mineral. In the past one of the common techniques used to recover gold was ground sluicing. This method was applied in a number of gold mining fields and you […]
Even Small Mining Operations Can Recover a Lot of Gold
Mining Placer Deposits using a Gold Trommel
If you’ve every watched one of the mining shows on TV, then you’ve probably seen a trommel in action. Nearly all of the large commercial placer operations use them, but they are increasingly being used by smaller scale miners too. The main function performed by the equipment is that of processing large volumes of gravel […]
What is Placer Gold and How do You Find it?
Most of the gold mined in California and in rivers across the United States during the height of the gold rush was placer gold. During the 1840s through 1860s gold mining in the United States focused on rivers where miners recovered lose gold nuggets from river beds using simple mining tools such as sluice boxes. […]
Do All Rivers Contain Gold?
Gold Prospecting on Northern California’s Beaches & Coast Range
Gold Hunting – False Bedrock, Caliche & Desert Pavement
Any placer miner worth their salt knows the importance of finding bedrock. To find any real appreciable quantities of gold in just about any circumstance you will need to get down to bedrock. What some prospectors don’t realize is that there are sometimes situations where a dense layer of material can act as a barrier […]
15 Historic Photographs of the Hydraulic Gold Miners in Action
Hydraulic mining became the primary way to recover large amounts of gold by the late-1800s. While normal placer mining techniques like panning and sluicing worked well in the rivers, there were many areas with ancient river gravels that were high above the current water flow. These could only be mined profitably with hydraulic mining. Water […]
Desert Gold Prospecting vs. High County Gold Prospecting
Forget Big Mines – Prospect for Gold around the Smaller Diggings
6 Types of Micro-Gold Recovery Equipment in Action
Beach Mining Tips – How to Recover Fine Gold in Sand
Using Ball Mills to Extract Raw Gold from Ores
Placer mining and lode mining are very different. Whereas placer gold has been released from within the rock and is generally free from any significant matrix, lode gold presents different challenges. While gold may be present in ore, it must somehow be released for proper extraction. As a result, a number of machines have been […]
Public Lands Gold Mining – Millions of Acres are Wide Open to Prospectors
Sometimes miners can be a pessimistic bunch. I will acknowledge that some of it is warranted… you won’t get any argument from me that its harder to be a miner today than it was in decades past. More restrictions and regulations are frustrating, no doubt about it. And more generally, it seems like the general […]