Yearly flood waters dislodge thousands of ounces of placer gold, crystalline gold, nugget gold and free gold from your local canyons and hillsides.
With a few simple tools costing less than $100.00, you can have a wonderful time enjoying the natural beauty of the outdoors, while at the same time pulling gold right out of the ground! The United States and many worldwide locations are rich with a constantly replenished source of gold wealth, just waiting for the person with the right tools to find and "harvest" it.
Are you ready to try stream panning? Most U.S. Forest land is still open for the careful use of the people, but check with your local prospecting shop first for any possible regulations or limitations. Gold "sniping" or hunting is allowed in most National Forest land without permits or fees, but it's always best to play it safe, especially within the National Parks where sniping is NOT ALLOWED AT ALL. Get a map and ask the owner of the land, whether it be the U.S. Forestry Service or privately owned land, for permission, regulations and limitations (if any).
Next Time Try a Sluice Box
A "classifier",is a boxlike frame with about a 1/4" screen mesh at the bottom. It can be made to fit exactly on top of the upstream flared end of your sluice box.
Place the sluice box near the side of the stream, in a spot almost equal to the depth of the sluice. Place the sluice parallel to the current, and adjust it's angle by placing stones under the upstream end. Make sure that the current is not too strong, or your sluice will wash away!
A good current will wash the heavier stones across the riffles and out the downstream end, but you should see finer gravel circulating in "eddies" downstream of each riffle. When you have washed about 5 to 10 buckets of gravel across the sluice box, it is time to carefully lift the box out of the stream and put the downstream end carefully into an empty and clean 5 gallon bucket . Carefully wash the sluice with your other bucket full of clear water, concentrating on the sides and keeping the box tilted slightly off vertical so as not to lose any ore. Loosen the riffle screen (carefully), and wash the screen thoroughly before removing it from the sluice box in the bucket. When you have inspected the screen and riffles for any obvious ore, set it aside. Now, carefully roll the "rug" material from top (upstream end) to bottom so that any ore remains inside the rug. Wash the sluice frame thoroughly before removing it from the bucket. You should now have plenty of water in the bucket to wash the rug out. It may seem that you don't have much ore in the bucket for all your efforts, but when you pan out the heavy ore in the bottom of the bucket you will find much more gold than you would with just random shovelsfull out of the stream. When you find any gold, stick to digging in that spot, as gold does accumulate in pockets. When you are rich enough from your finds to afford one, a dredge will speed up the processing of river gravel by acting as a "vacuum cleaner" for the streambed. Commonly, dredges run from about $500.00 and upward, although you might pick a used one up in classified ads for much less. With the proper equipment you can explore mid-stream crevices and under submerged boulders for the heavier and more elusive nuggets that like to hide in midstream.
With a few simple tools costing less than $100.00, you can have a wonderful time enjoying the natural beauty of the outdoors, while at the same time pulling gold right out of the ground! The United States and many worldwide locations are rich with a constantly replenished source of gold wealth, just waiting for the person with the right tools to find and "harvest" it.
Metal Detecting
There are as many different types of metal detectors as there are styles of metal detecting, but if your search is for gold nuggets, I suggest White's, Garrett, Fisher and Minelab brands to name a few. My personal experience is with older models such as the White's Goldmaster and Spectrum metal detectors, but there are many newer models with improvements and enhancements to make finding gold coins, nuggets and many other treasures a lot easier. Metal detecting is field-proven to find gold and other precious metal nuggets in a wide range of terrain conditions and ground mineralization worldwide. If you are interested in comparing these and many other fine metal detecting units, check out the links to see what's available. You can even find "treasures" in your own back yard. Just remember that some metal detectors can be costly: About $600.00, for a good quality detector.
The basic operation of most gold and metal detectors is the same, although they employ many different sophisticated electronics to achieve the same end results. When the metal detector's search coil is passed over a buried metal target (at a speed similar to a grandfather clock's pendulum), its circuitry converts the reflected signal into an audible rise and fall in pitch or volume as heard usually through headphones. When the search head (coil) is positioned directly over the center of the target, such as a coin or nugget, its signal will sound at loudest volume or at an apex of pitch on the detector's headphone or speaker.
Gold Prospecting Tools
A gold pan can be purchased for as little as $10.00. Most modern plastic and nylon pans have built-in ridges which help to trap gold and other heavier metals such as platinum and silver, with less effort, and with little experience. Plastic gold pans and digging tools make it easier to isolate gold, platinum and silver because they don't react to the metal detector. A good gold pan is tool number one.
Here's a list of other tools that may help you to get started as a "Weekend Prospector":
Two clean 5 gallon paint buckets.
A garden trowel. (Plastic is better cause its "invisible" to your metal detector)
Fine pointed, sturdy tweezers.
A fine point camel hair paintbrush, with a tip about 1/16 inch in diameter and 3/16 inch in length.
An "eyedropper" or small suction tube.
An inexpensive magnifying glass or "loupe".
An airtight medicine bottle, small enough for a shirt pocket, clear if possible.
A 35mm plastic film can, with lid.
An old pair of tennis shoes or water shoes.
The last item in the "inexpensive" list is the most expensive, but isn't absolutely necessary to find gold. A quality lightweight and "packable" sluice box can be purchased for as little as $95.00. Remember, having the "right tools" will make your efforts more rewarding.