As many of you know I’m a big believer that most of the significant gold is actually found during your research and museums are an often overlooked place to do research, particularly if you are stumped.  I have found that looking at museums often give me a better feel for a project than say just reading or searching for information online, because the museum displays give you both an overview of mining in a given region, but also specific details about mining techniques, equipment, and production that you may not have known.

photo credit: nerdcoregirl

More importantly, even if you know all of the information in the exhibits, seeing the information explain in visual form may help spark some ideas you had never considered about where you might want to prospect and other research ideas.

Also, some of the old gold mining equipment might really be useful to you, because the old timers used a variety of methods that we no longer use for a variety of reasons.  However, you might be able to use your equipment a little more effectively or perhaps decide to build a piece of your own gear.  Most of the old stuff tends to be heavier and harder to use, but it depends on your situation.

Anyhow, here is the link for Mining Museums

Strike It Rich!

Like most grizzly bears this time of year I am slowly beginning to come out of my long winter hibernation.  I will be posting more gold treasure maps and other good information.

I think 2010 is going to be a good year for all of the part-time gold miners, because the price of gold has stayed high.

I’ll be posting something every week or two until I get tired or strike it rich.

If you have any specific things you want me to look into let me know.

Good Luck!

The death toll at an illegal gold mine in South Africa has now reached 76 and it is a reminder that it simply isn’t safe to venture into old mine shafts without the proper training and mining equipment.  Actually, even that is dangerous and amateurs should just not risk it.  After all, finding a hundred pound nugget would be pretty worthless if you got killed in the process. 

Furthermore, there are simply much safer ways to mine than venturing into crumbling mine shafts, especially in the US where most of the mine shafts were dug by self taught mining engineers better than a century ago. 

Strike It Rich!

Charlie

This week I am posting the 2008 edition of the BLM’s pamphlet Mining Claims and Sites on Federal Lands, which every serious gold miner should read. 

It contains the information about how a gold miner goes about filing a claim under the Mining Act of 1872.  Remember, there is a move afoot in Congress to change the 1872 Act which could be great for the small gold miner.  I would like to see the Mining Act re-worked so the small gold miner could still work a claim, because today most of the claims are held by big multinational companies.

Frankly, I think it has a shot, because an individual gold miner has very little environmental impact compared to the strip mining operations of the big boys and it allows a way for millions of average Americans to benefit from the mineral riches of Federal Lands.  So, any change that makes it easier for the solo gold miner to have a shot has my support. 

So, here’s the link on how to File A Mining Claim

Strike It Rich!

Charlie

Underwater Gold!

Underwater metal detectors like the, Viper Trident are an especially useful tool for modern prospectors, because they allow you to search for gold in areas that were off limits to small-time prospectors until just the last few years. The Viper Trident is a great choice for anyone thinking about an underwater metal detector, because it is only $299.

Streams draining the rich Mother Lode region in Northern California — the Feather, Mokelumne, American, Cosumnes, Calaveras, and Yuba Rivers and the Trinity River have concentrated enormous quantities of gold in gravels, known as placer depsotis, over the millennium. It was discoveries in these rivers that started the great California gold rush in 1849 and literally tens of billions of dollars worth of gold has been extracted from the shallow parts of these streams.

But many stretches of deep water are simply UNTOUCHED by prospectors. Sometimes old time prospectors did build dams or canals to open stretches of deep water to prospectors, but that was a difficult, expensive, and time consuming task. Later they used gold dredges, but these are also expensive and traditional gold dredges were limited mostly to navigable bodies of water. Even today’s modern lightweight suction dredges are difficult to transport into many areas and often hard to use in more than ten feet of water.

So, there are hundreds of miles of California river and lake bottoms that are almost as virgin as they were before the strike at Sutter’s Mill. That means that there are undoubtedly some large gold nuggets simply lying untouched in the dark waters waiting for someone with an underwater metal detector, like this Garrett Sea Hunter.

And using an underwater metal detector doesn’t require you to be a master scuba diver, because any stretch of where a river is too wide to dam or divert that runs more than four feet of water year round is almost certainly virgin or near virgin territory. However, if you are already a scuba diver it allows you to really get into unexplored territory with underwater metal detectors like this Minelab Excalibur II.

Of course, the nice thing about underwater metal detectors is that you can also use them on land for any job you might have and some of the high end underwater metal detectors Fisher CZ-21 Pro , which works down to 250 feet in depth, are real gold detectors too.

This is truly the golden period for prospecting with underwater metal detectors.

Where to Use your Underwater Metal Detector

Streams draining the rich Mother Lode region–the Feather, Mokelumne, American, Cosumnes, Calaveras, and Yuba Rivers–and the Trinity River in northern California have concentrated considerable quantities of gold in gravels and where the water is deeper these are good areas for the use of underwater metal detectors.

In the eastern United States, placer deposits have been discovered in streams draining the southern Appalachian region in Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama, and these often deeper streams and rivers are great areas for the use of underwater metal detectors. Many saprolite (disintegrated somewhat decomposed rock that lies in its original place) deposits in this general region also have been mined by placer methods.