What is prospecting?

In short, I define recreational prospecting as the art of locating, removing and refining gold from its surrounding material. Sounds simple, right? That's because it is.

The most famous prospectors were the 49ers. They left relatively secure lives to head across the plains and Rocky Mountains to maybe strike it rich. Some did, most did not, and many had to pack up and head back East to try to resume their lives there. Too many to count did not even make it to the goldfields, victims of accidents, disease, or the Indians along the way. It's difficult to fathom that that was less than 150 years ago. Now we merely need to load up the car with a few basic tools, head to our favorite spot, and dig away, of course making sure no-one else has a claim on the location.

Many people I've spoken to are under the impression that there is no more gold left to be found, that the mining operations and prospectors of the past have cleaned up. Well, the pickings are a little slimmer in most of the places where there was abundant gold. There are probably not many spots left that will net 1/4-1/2 ounce of gold per panful of ore, but modern technology, namely satellite imaging, shows that about 98% of the world's gold is still in the ground !

I'm not going to sit here and tell you that you should call your boss and tell him to shove it, you will probably never make a living from prospecting. What I will tell you is that there is an enjoyable, healthy, family hobby that anyone can enjoy. You only need a few basic tools to get started, many of which you probably have in your garage right now:

These are items I wouldn't bother going without.

#2 shovel ...A standard shovel. I prefer the kind with the rubber covering on the handle. Make sure you get a good one... you don't want it to break out on location.

gold pan ...I prefer the green plastic ones with the riffles on the sides. They don't rust and the color helps the gold stand out which is important since alot of the finer gold you'll get is very tiny. The metal ones, IMHO, are good for nothing but burning your sluice carpet at the end of the year. More on that later. You can get a good one for around $10.

(2) 5 gallon buckets...I say two because it's easier to carry two full buckets than one. The gold hot spots you find may not be by a good pond or stream that you can wash your dirt in. Make sure you don't overload them and take a chance on hurting yourself or, worse, dumping one and losing a nugget on your way to your panning/sluicing spot. Take along a smaller one for incidental stuff.

flattip screwdriver ...or something similar. You'll need it for prying out rocks, digging in crevices, etc. Use an old one because it will get torn up. Or if you have one with a lifetime warranty...

sniffer bottle...These are for sucking up your gold out of your pan when you are done cleaning up, or getting all the trash material out of your pan (keep an eye on this stuff... I once found a garnet about the size of an almond. It's probably not worth much, but it could have been.) These run about $10.

glass or plastic vials...for storing and showing off your GOLD. I prefer glass because they don't scratch up as easily. Be very careful with them because they represent all that hard work. Try putting a strip of black electrician's tape on one side to help your gold stand out.

dishwashing detergent or similar... Oils in the skin on your hands can bond with the finer gold and float it out of your pan as you are cleaning up your concentrates. Add a drop or two of the detergent to keep this from happening, but also be vigilant as this is not foolproof.

These items will make your trips more productive.

sluice box... This is not a necessary piece of equipment, but it greatly increases the amount of dirt you can process. They use the fact that gold is 19 times heavier than an equal volume of water (specific gravity=19) to separate gold from the ore. Most dirt has a specific gravity of less than 7, so it washes right out the end while the gold gets trapped under a ripple. You can get a good one for $75 or so.

rubber boots... help to keep your feet dry, you never know when you'll want to be on the other side of the stream.

classifier or separator... another piece of equipment that is not really necessary to the process, but very helpful since it gets out larger rocks that can clog up your sluice. Be sure to wash all the stuff it catches very well and look through it too, you don't want to lose a nugget. It can be made a variety of ways, some look like a gold pan with 1/2" holes in the bottom in a grid pattern. You could make one with a little imagination.

magnet... another helpful but not necessary item. Alot of the heavier trash dirt is magnetic, and you can use a magnet to help you remove it. Be sure to hold on to any material you remove in this method, as gold can get trapped by it and lost if you throw it away.

heavy duty prybar... you'll need this for getting some of the larger rocks out of your way.

large cheap plastic cup... like you get at the convenience store for free. Just take one, they are good for anything from helping clean out your sluice box to holding your carpet to keeping track of your concentrates to...

That takes care of the what, now for the where and how.