Author Archives

Efficient Prospecting

If you’ve ever yearned to mine some buried treasure, you need to learn about the concept of dredging. It’s considered the most effective method of recreational prospecting and it’s gaining in popularity. Simply put, dredging involves using a suction dredge to vacuum gravel from the bottom of a creek bed. For the most part, a […]

Why hunt for gold?

You’re probably asking yourself, “Why would anybody waste their time hunting for gold? After all, the old-timers got it all long ago, didn’t they?” The answer to that is a resounding “Absolutely Not!” The old-timers didn’t get it all. In fact, it is estimated that only about 5 percent of the world’s gold supply has […]

Grubbing for Gold

Getting gold out of them thar’ hills is a little more challenging than it was for the first 49ers. America’s first gold strikes were primarily “placer gold”, literally gold left lying in stream beds after being washed down off mountainsides and other surface deposits. It was easy to spot, and easy to pick up. Panning […]

Gold Fever is born

When the subject of gold rushes comes up, the first words to mind are often “49ers” or “Klondike”. Yet the first gold discovery resulting in a gold rush, took place some 50 years before the 1849 migration to California. It wasn’t even a gold rush. It was a 12 year-old boy picking up a heavy […]

Gold Mining Methods

Many techniques and technologies for getting gold out of wherever it’s found, have evolved since the first goldrush. The amateur prospector can still enjoy a great deal of fun by panning, crevicing and dowsing for gold. Those with an eye to higher yields or more “professional” operations, might choose another method. Sluicing One of the […]

Gold Mining Disasters

When the gold mining industry was in its infancy in America, there were few disasters. The majority of finds being placer deposits, on the surface or in shallow streams which were panned, the dangers presented to prospectors were the practical ones of falling and breaking a limb, or possibly drowning in water too deep, while […]

Prospecting basics

When Howard Carter broke through the wall of King Tut’s tomb in 1923, he saw “wonderful things”, which would prove that man had been chasing the glitter of gold for thousands of years. It’s not quite as hard a hobby as it used to be, and the chances of a find like Carter’s in North […]

The Gold Rush that changed America

At the time of the great California gold strike in 1849, there was an expression in common use, meaning the ultimate thrill, the symbol of exotic achievement. And it all came from travelling circuses, which had begun to display the very rare elephant. As the tale goes, a farmer heard that a circus had come […]

Prospecting – where to get started

How to start prospecting.