OK, some of my readers seem to believe that the documents I post are to obtuse for the average weekend gold miner.  I don’t tend to agree because the average weekend gold miner is probably an engineer, auto mechanic, or school teacher during the week, and none of this stuff is rocket science.  Also, you know that the weekend gold miners are smart, because they aren’t wasting there time playing golf. 

Well, the document that I am posting this week placer-mining-california-doc-division-of-mines-and-geology is one that should be useful to almost every weekend gold miner whether you live in California or not. 

This document is a very detailed thirty-seven page report on placer mining and from reading it you could pretty well go out and start washing dirt.  It has plans for sluice boxes and lot of other cool stuff.

Strike It Rich!

Here’s a great document about Washington State gold mining.  It’s a 1955 document prepared by the Washington State Division of Mines and Geology.  This is pretty much the bible for the Washington gold miner, because it gives 162 pages worth of information on the history and location of mines in Washington state.  A gold miner can’t ask for much more than that.

Washington has had some very good gold production over the years and today apparently the small time gold miners are doing pretty good.

So, check out washington-state-gold-mining   If you live out in that part of the country this is really worth taking a look at.

Strike It Rich!

This is an absolutely great document if you live anywhere in the Virginia or anywhere in that part of the country, because this is a 1975 report by the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Division of Minerals on the location of old gold mines.

This is LITERALLY a treasure map that gives turn by turn directions to numerous old gold mines.  Man, it can’t get any easier than this!

Anyhow, if you go out looking for any of those lost gold mines be sure not to trespass or break any other laws.   However, there is an excellent chance that many of the landowners in that part of the country don’t have a clue that there are old gold mines anywhere near their property, so you might be able to work something out.

So, check out lost-virginia-gold-mines

Strike It Rich!

Below is a link to a 64 page document about placer mining from about 1880. I believe it is from the United States Bureau of Mines, but I didn’t see anything that said for sure.

However, it is a great document that every gold miner should read, because it has information on the big and small placer gold mines operating at the time in twelve states and the Dakota Territory. It is important for a modern gold miner to remember that those old timers found only a tiny percentage of the gold in place and recovered even less.

So if there was a paying gold mine in a given area in 1880 that’s a great area for you to prospect, because you know the paydirt is there. It’s just a matter of finding it and with modern gold mining technology it is a lot easier to find than it was when you didn’t have anything but a shovel a pan and burro.

The document also points out where gold miners might encounter diamonds, rubies, and other precious minerals.

Here’s the LINK.

Strike It Rich!

Charlie