Topics include prospecting tips, methods and techniques for finding gold and other valuable precious metals and minerals
Where is black opal found Black opal is found in only three places in the world. Close to the Oregon border in the remote Virgin Valley area of far northwestern Nevada, a relatively recent find in Ethiopia, and the famous deposits of Lightning Ridge in Australia. What is black opal Read more…
Types of placer gold deposits found in desert dry washes Small washes and tributary gold deposits Prospecting smaller dry washes and tributaries can be some of the most productive areas for gold. Especially in areas with old hard rock prospects in the hills surrounding the washes. Search these washes for Read more…
Here is a list of what to look for when panning for gold. Coarse Black Sands Hard bedrock with crevasses Quartz veins and stringers in bedrock Contact zones of different rock types Quartz and magnetite in the creek Lead pieces in the gravel Garnets and garnet sands Hard packed gravel Read more…
Dos Cabezas & Teviston Mining Districts Located in Cochise County in southeastern Arizona, about 15 miles east of Wilcox. There have been some large nuggets recovered here over the years. This would be a good place to do some drywashing and gold nugget detecting. Land status: The Dos Cabezas Mountains Read more…
Gold drywashing basics Drywashing machines or drywashers are used to separate gold from gravels without the need for water. The arid desert southwest still has large placer gold areas that have not been worked on a commercial level, because of difficulties recovering gold without using water, especially on a large Read more…
Where to find gold at Rich Hill, Arizona Rich Hill in west-central Arizona has dealt fortune to scores of men. This massive mountain of Precambrian granite, cracked and pitted by titanic forces, still gives up its hidden treasures. Small patches of virgin ground can still be found by the careful Read more…
Small Scale Hard Rock Gold Mining and Ore Processing There isn’t much information out there that covers hard rock gold ore processing for the prospector or small scale miner. It’s become something of a lost art. Years ago, there were 100’s even 1000’s of small hard rock gold mines across Read more…
Collecting Fire Agate Fire Agate is an unusual, rare and beautiful form of cryptocrystalline chalcedony. It can occasionally exhibit flashes of color similar to precious opal. The presence of dark reddish brown iron oxide layers, between layers of chalcedony is what causes this play of color. Brown and orange fire Read more…
Agates are a very fine-grained variety of Chalcedony, which is composed of two silica minerals, quartz, and moganite. Because agates are so fine grained, (called cryptocrystalline) they take on a very high polish, when worked with lapidary equipment such as rock tumblers and cabbing machines. Agates are also quite hard, Read more…
Gold panning is a small-scale method for separating native gold from stream and river gravels by using a gold pan. The first recorded use of a pan to collect gold dates back to Roman times. A simple form of placer mining, gold panning is still popular today both with prospectors Read more…