So I've been wanting to try to prospect for gold there have been several gold mines operating in my area at various times. I'm considering getting a claim a small folding sluice box and battery operated panning machine a 400 - 500 dollar investment. I'm just unsure if its worth the effort I expect it to be hard work which I have no problem with, dangerous which might be exciting. But would it be in any way shape or form profitable? Anyone on here have any experiences positive or negative with prospecting. The thought of bushwacking, adventure, and tax free income sounds right up my alley!
Sounds like an interesting idea, I'd like to hear also what anyone has to say on this. I would imagine it would be pretty hard to find some. Do you have any data from the mines in your area, like grams of gold per tonne?
One mine was not super profitable mainly due to it being small bits in the river sand and having 300 prospectors working it. Another is due to reopen soon as technolgy advances and raised price have made it profitable. Most have been smaller scale mines though there were lots of chinese prospectors in the area at the turn of the century. There is also a rather large copper mine being proposed for the area. There are a lot of rivers though also lot of mrain and washouts so there is definately gold out there. I don't expect it to be easy but if its relatively doable I'd like to give it a shot I just want to talk to people that have done it so I know what I'd be getting myself into.
I spent an afternoon in Gympie panning for gold, found nothing! I spent 3 hours in Kalgoorlie and found three small specks which I firmly believe are gold. In the Gold Rush fever days (according to a book I read) people would find a strike, everyone would pile in and then someone else would hear of a strike down the road where the gold was easier to get to and everyone packed up and headed off. Many of the old sites weren't abandoned because they ran out of gold, it's just the miners that ran out. Would you be better off going on a weekend course metal detecting and maybe a TAFE Course on geology first, I am sure that you could spend years looking in the wrong place if you didn't know better and I am sure that while people will be happy to sell you equipment, they will be tight lipped about where to find gold. I would love to go fossiking but maybe I will try it for a few weekends with hired equipment before I go all in.
Get a simple pan, good physical geology text book and learn some simple physics regarding the way water moves and deposits gold within your targeted ares. I am new to the game but quickly learning its not so much a game of hard work but more about being smart. It is predictable where the water will deposit the gold. With the majority of the mining you talk of being done years ago the gradual evolution of river and stream beds leads to areas where you can be well paid for your time outside enjoying nature. I am Lucky in NZ where I have been prospecting has been commercially viable for years but the greenies have prevented it. Its a bit of a grey area as to the legality of my prospecting but the stealth mission is half the fun. My kit has cost my <$100 all up and already paid for itself. The piece of equipment I most recommend is a good crevice device. There are some good finds down cracks and crevices where in the bedrock. Good luck and enjoy.
Gold panning can be good. Many rivers back in the day had many people panning in them constantly and now there basically nobody panning in them, meanwhile the rocks would have moved to expose new gold.
There is a show on Discovery channel called "Alaska Gold Rush". Link below. It's quite interesting, it shows their daily struggles, I watched the whole season, can't wait till season 2. You should watch it, might give you some ideas, however, those guys started their own mine so I'm not sure if that applies to you. http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/gold-rush-alaska/episodes.html
Best thing to do is get onto a gold prospsecting forum in your country, you will find many people like yourself wanting to get into prospecting and others with experience. If you have gold mines nearby there will be gold in the rivers, get into panning and crevassing and find out how much gold is in your rivers before investing in a sluice.
Yeah I jusr recently got access to a canoe and its allowed me to get up rivers to interesting spots. - have to get a good pan and start looking.
Don't go prospecting to replace you're income .do for lots of other reasons .mine lab detecters are really good and dear, I have a underwater mine lab ,works deeper than I'm going to go,, I think it cost about 1300 . About 6000$ for the normal .. Fossicing and detecting are really fun digging a mine is (Work) sorry kids
Great show, I have watched the season too. It sure removed any desire I may have had to go gold mining
Hey Sargeant where abouts are you located!? If close maybe a business/adventure partner could be arranged. Not only do I love gold but I love geology, got all the books!! Im in Vancouver, Let me know!
The Chinese diggers had a wonderful highly effective way of alluvial gold mining. Its called ground sluicing. I use it here in Tasmania because we are not allowed to have a sluice box and have awesome results on fine and course Gold. You only need running water, a crowbar and a pitch fork or your hands. You can also use a pick, but, you get pretty wet with the splashes. I can easily move 10 ton or material a day alone. once summer comes you turn the water off (dam it) or divert it and clean up the bottom paying careful attention to any cracks and crevices. Brush it out with a tooth brush if it will fit or a sniffer bottle and wire All you need is a gold bearing creek, so a pan or historical evidence or local knowledge to find it and select a part of the creek with a drop off to start, small waterfall/ fault etc as the lighter material gushes out the heavies drop and get trapped on the bedrock, then move up hill driving your bar into the centre of the creek and use the fork to get rid of potato sized rocks, the bar will shift bigger rocks and water pushing on them will assist you. You basically turn the whole creek into a sluice box. Ive seen photos of Australian diggers ground sluicing, but they do it wrong, they formed a channel and boxed it and shovel dirt into it. That's hard work imo.. the best money i make is selling Gold bearing specimens 100 grams of gold bearing matrix is worth way more than the grain or 2 of gold if lucky, that's in it. the other option i would choose if i could, would be a bazooka sluice box. I havent used one but they look great for fast efficient gold recovery and portability Kindest Regards Phillip
I used to prospect and was about to buy a dredge before my back totally gave out...Anklosing Spondolytis...rheumatoid arthritis of the spine basically. Anyway, with a dredge, a vacuum for under water, you can suck of layers of crud till you get down to the bedrock in streams and rivers which is where the heavy gold has settled. I curse my back, when I was prospecting, Gold was maybe 1200 per oz, now, well you know, you could actually make out pretty well nowadays with a dredge. a 4" is best because a lot of places have size limits and a 4" is allowed just about anywhere, at least in the States. I'd be happy to tell ya all I know if you get involved.
I'm waiting to save a bit of extra cash there's a portable sluice box and pan I have my eye on and a few spots I've been fishing near that I'd like to try when I get started I'll post results. Mine tech I'm on west vancouver island so if you're in thiss neck of the woods gimme a pm
I just googled "crevice device" and it gave my a bunch of non-silver porn sites. Plese explain more on what a crevice device is. Cheers edit Dont worry I found it http://www.kellycodetectors.com/accessories/goldpanner.htm
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Sports/Camping-outdoors/Tools-knives-compasses/Other/auction-407504960.htm this explains it easily
I have a crevice device! & let me tell you it has been where no man has been before This adaptive rod, appropriately named "Jholmes" after the famous porn star John Holmes extends up to 1 meter, & goes where no other metal detector head can go. It operates on pulse, can ping a target 1m deep. I work old diggings with it, where other detector heads can not reach. Lots of gold,nails,pull tops,lead,copper,tin,keys,money,junk to be found with one, that everyone else has missed in tight areas. The heads can come with the Aquapulse metal detectors....But like all good stuff the waterproof detectors, & heads are not cheap.
