Sweet Home Alabama!  Yes, there is gold to be found in Alabama.  According to this document by the Geological Survey of Alabama there 49,000 ounces of gold was reported through 1939 and probably at least that much more has been mined, but not reported.

This is a long document, but it’s worth your trouble to dig through it if you live in Alabama or somewhere nearby, particularly in Mississippi.   A lot of Alabama gold fields are in natural forests and that can also work in your favor.

Check it out!

Alabama Mineral Survey

John Smith and the other founders of Jamestown came to Virginia looking for gold.  They didn’t find any gold.  That was too bad for them, but very good for you.

There are lots of places around Virgina for amateur gold miners to prospect.   The you may not find as much gold as you could find in other states, but there are a lot of great places to mine.

This article is from the Virginia Division Mineral Resources.  It has an outstanding map.  You can see that there are good places to try you luck within easy driving distance of all of Virginia’s major cities.  You can literally pan for gold inside the Washington Beltway -  without stooping to becoming a lobbyist.  Check it out: GOLD In Virginia

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