GOLD PROSPECTING STARTS AT THE OFFICE

Serious gold has been found in about 3 out of every 5 states in the US.  While there is still untold amounts of gold to be found, however, it’s not as easy as it was in the 1800′s to find open land to prospect.  You can jump right in and start fishing through streams for a cache, but it can also be a risky and disappointing way to go about any serious prospecting.  There are a few things to consider before loading up the mule and heading off to the mountains that will greatly increase your odds of success – and decrease your odds of ending up in court.

.Just because a mine or claim is no longer worked does not mean that the gold is gone.  That particular property, however, might still be off limits to hunters.  Public lands are not always a free for all gold prospecting areas, either.  Some public land contains claims and other areas are off limits to hunting at all.  Some areas are restricted hunting, meaning you can use a pan, but not a dredge or sluice, or other equipment.   If you are thinking that you can just slip into off-limits areas and slip out without notice, you are taking one healthy risk to your wallet or freedom.   By getting some research under your belt before diving into the creeks with your prospecting gear, you can avoid not only fines, arrests, or being shot for claim jumping, you can also get a pretty good idea where your best bet is to find a good productive placer.  The search for records can be time consuming, but it is a “must” do for anyone serious about gold prospecting.

While you will want to know the ownership status of the land you wish to hunt, it’s not going to do you much good to hunt if there isn’t a decent amount of gold to be found in the area.  While you may have heard that gold can be found just about anywhere, a few flakes dropped by glaciers aren’t really going to make a hunt worthwhile.  You should start your search by studying mining records to find areas from which good amounts of gold have already been found. State Bureau of Mines offices will have information about mining in the areas you are researching.  Remember, thousands of people already have searched the country for gold.  You aren’t likely to make much headway in new and untouched territory.  Your best bet is to stick with known territories. While some people believe that areas that contain mines are tapped out, this is rarely the case. Gold in these areas still works its way down into streams and forms placers downhill from the sources.

The city office in the area you are researching will have records of current mining claims as well as records of claims that are now abandoned.  Once you study these and are content with pursuing prospecting in an area, you will want to do another bit of study.  The BLM offices have maps containing land status plats that show the ownership of public lands. Their offices also have mining and mineralogy maps. These offices are where you find out where you are free to prospect.
Claims  become abandoned for many reasons.  Some might be abandoned because the area had been worked until the claim quit producing.  Others may just have never been fruitful in the first place.  Others could be abandoned due to other difficulties that the owner encountered, such as inability to get to and from the claim, illness or death, and a myriad other reasons.  If a claim is abandoned and the land is open to prospecting, you might be able to pick up the claim for a low price and continue work on it. If it has been a considerable amount of time since a claim has been worked, it may contain fresh gold which continues to wash down into placer areas over time.

Local assay offices are sometimes willing to provide information about their own records of gold assays from local area claims, although sometimes you will be charged for records searches.  If the claim produced gold recently enough, someone in the office might just even remember that it produced well.

A bit of geological study about gold is always a good idea for those who are extremely serious about prospecting, too.  What you learn may just help you identify “new” localities near the older, known ones.

While these studies can be time consuming, most areas have several months a year (in some places most of the year) which are not suitable for hunting in the field so these are excellent months to do your “indoor” prospecting.

Once you have the information you need about open land and available claims, you are then ready to go out into the field and try your luck in the 2011 Gold Rush.

Written By: HeySal on January 20, 2011

Eureka! Best vacations for treasure hunters

Making money while on a vacation isn't a common occurrence, unless you get lucky on the slots. But if Vegas isn't your style, don't worry — you can still come home from a trip with your purse a little fatter. 

 There are legends of pirates' buried treasure that was never found, gold that has still been seen in California rivers and caves in the Midwest that abound with jewels and gems of all kinds. Although treasure-hunting vacations may not make you millions, there is a good possibility of finding diamonds or gold — and even if you don't, looking is half the fun.

Chances are you won't be disappointed at Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas, an extremely rare diamond site where you get to keep what you find. Most diamonds found are less then one carat and not big enough to be cut, but many visitors take their winnings home as souvenirs or have them made into jewelry. There is the occasional large find: In 1975 a whopping 16.37-carat rock was found. Finding bling of this size is rare, but it depends on how hard and deep you look.

Besides mining for diamonds, lots of other gems, including emeralds, aquamarines, garnets, rubies, amethysts and sapphires, are still buried deep in the mountains. At Gem Mountain in North Carolina, gems of all shapes and sizes have been found, some large enough to be cut and set in jewelry. Visitors can dig through real gemstone flumes with the help of mining experts, while comparing their findings with friends and family to see who has the biggest and best.

Kay Buchanan, owner of Gem Mountain, says, "People love the idea of treasure-hunting because it's like gambling. You're always hoping for the 'big' find. It's something that everyone can do, young or old." A real, operational aquamarine mine is also open for tours, and guests can watch miners search through the rocks for precious gems.

With the price of gold skyrocketing these days, panning for gold like the 49ers did during the California Gold Rush may be best way to strike it rich. Gold mining trips available through the California Gold Co. take willing participants to Woods Creek, one of the richest creeks in California, which still yields a good amount of gold.

Although the heyday of gold mining is behind us, gold can still be found in Woods Creek, one of the richest creeks in California. Day-long gold mining trips take participants into the beautiful woods surrounding the creek, where adventurous miners can dig, sluice and pan for gold.

 

 

The chances of finding gold are very likely here, and you can even keep what you find (up to a half-ounce). Rob Goreham, founder of the California Gold Co., thinks the reason people like mining so much is the thrill of finding gold. He says, "It doesn't matter the size of what is found, people are just excited to be out there searching." Expert gold miners lead the trips to help with the digging, sluicing and panning for gold.

The areas surrounding California Gold Country offer all different aspects of a gold miner's life, like real working mines that are open for tours and gold and silver mining towns that can be explored. And after a long day in the mines or at the river, you can cap it all off at a saloon with a sarsaparilla.

Speaking of gold, you might be able to find a lost buried treasure among some old pirate islands. One in particular — Oak Island in Nova Scotia, Canada — has many legends surrounding what's buried deep

Speaking of gold, you might be able to find a lost buried treasure among some old pirate islands. One in particular — Oak Island in Nova Scotia, Canada — has many legends surrounding what's buried deep in its caves. The mysterious Treasure Pit (also known as the Money Pit), reportedly houses booty from the 18th century. No one knows for sure where it may have come from, but a few theories have been suggested.

Even though this treasure hunt has been going on for more than 300 years without a single cent being recovered, excavations are conducted by determined groups who hold a Treasure Trove License in hopes of recovering an unforeseen amount of money.

And while tourists can't explore its treasure sites by themselves on any given day, each year a festival, Explore Oak Island Days, is held where everyone can join in on the fun and legend of the Oak Island treasure.

So whether you love the legends or the jewels, a treasure hunt is the type of "working" vacation even homebodies can get behind.

Discovery Channels Gold Rush Brings Prospecting to the commen man

The New Hit Series hits the ground running on friday nights these boys all want to strick it rich follow the misshaps and adventures , and watch out you might learn something in the meen time    discovery channels gold rush alaska-stakes its claim

Gold bugs abuzz in quest for treasure

Hobby that can pay

Saturday, December 25, 2010  02:53 AM

By Jerry Revish and Marcey Goulder

 

 | View a related video from WBNS 10TV  | The near-record price of gold, coupled with an anything-but-glittering economy, has triggered a modern-day gold rush.

Some folks are digging through cabinets, dresser drawers and jewelry boxes, looking for unwanted gold they can swap for cash.
Others are taking a more old-fashioned approach: They're pulling out their atlases, pulling on their waders and stepping into out-of-the-way streambeds in search of tiny flecks of gold.
It's nothing like the California Gold Rush of 1849, when hundreds of thousands of gold-seekers - or "forty-niners" - headed west, drawn by dreams of instant wealth. But a growing number of people are panning for gold - in Ohio and across the United States.
Travel companies are offering gold-panning excursions. Would-be prospectors are snatching up basic equipment. (A "starter kit" sells for about $39.) And gold-
prospecting organizations are reporting significant membership growth.
The biggest, the Gold Prospectors Association of America, has seen its membership double since 2007, when the economy started to sour. The association added about 15,000 people to its rolls last year, raising its membership to more than 45,000.
"Oh, it's boomed," said Patrick O'Masters, a 48-year-old heating-and-cooling contractor from Columbus and an active member of the association's Buckeye Chapter.
"I'm not surprised - with today's economic climate. Gold is a tangible asset. You can't print more of it."
Gold closed Thursday at $1,380 an ounce in New York futures trading, $48 below the record high of $1,428 set Dec. 6.
The metal is up about 29percent this year. The Dow Jones industrial average, in comparison, is about 11percent higher than it was on Jan.1.
"Spiking gold prices are sometimes the deciding factor to stop watching TV and actually go prospecting and experience it for yourself," said Brandon Johnson, president of the prospecting association, which is based in Temecula, Calif.
"That quarter ounce or couple pennyweight is worth a lot more now than it used to be."
Members of the association receive a patch, a bumper sticker, a window decal, instructional DVDs and a one-year subscription to Gold Prospector magazine.
More important, they gain access to privately owned prospecting locations that have yielded gold before.
"If you want to find gold, go where it's already been found," O'Masters said.
Nationwide, the association has about 1,800 claims. Three are in Ohio: the Swank Claim near Bellville, in Richland County; the Frazee Claim near Zuck, in Knox County; and the Lewis Claim near Lucasville, in Scioto County.
However, because the gold in Ohio is "placer gold" - that is, it was carried here by prehistoric glaciers - it can, in theory, show up in most any stream.
"You can find gold anywhere where the water slows down and creates a little eddy, like around a bend," O'Masters said.
He said he keeps an eye out for mineral-rich black sand, which can be an indication of a placer deposit.
"You don't always find gold with black sand, but you always find black sand where you find gold."
O'Masters thought he'd hit pay dirt on a recent outing in southwestern Franklin County.
"Aw, that's called 'Leaverite,'" he said, taking a close look at a speck that had caught his attention. "Leave 'er right where you found it."
Much of the gold in Ohio is ultrafine "flour gold." Bigger pieces - those you could pick up with your fingers - are known as "pickers."
Kevin "Golden Eye" Adkins, a 55-year-old maintenance supervisor from Hilliard, likes to talk about the picker he turned up in Ross County.
"I was kind of excited," said Adkins, who's been prospecting for seven years. "You never know what you're going to find."
Dennis Staskiewicz, 41, of Wapakoneta, knows the feeling. He found a 3-gram nugget in water behind a Circleville factory.
"The river was fairly dirty; there was garbage in it," he said. "I didn't think I'd find anything - and that was my best find in Ohio in 10years."
The Gold Prospectors Association of America says it worries that some people, especially those frustrated by extended periods of unemployment or dead-end jobs, will view prospecting as a path to riches.
"Not every full-time prospector can earn a prosperous living, especially those with little to no experience," the organization says on its website. "And, while some prospectors do earn a successful living, they are the exception - not the rule."
Hobbyists such as O'Masters, Adkins and Staskiewicz insist there's no need to worry about them.
They said that although they don't always find gold when panning, they invariably find something they value almost as much: a break from the daily grind.
"I enjoy getting out of the house, out of the city, out in nature," O'Masters said. "It's a great family activity: Big kids, water, dirt - that's a good equation."
And with gold forecast to hit $1,500 an ounce in the year ahead, it's a pastime likely to grow even more in popularity before it wanes.
jerry.revish@10tv.com

How to Remove Gold from its Impurities

Gold that is found in placer deposits in the form of fine grains or flakes is extracted by a process called goldpanning.  It is a simple and ancient way of removing gold and is cheap too.  The pan used is a shallow one and is measured in inches by its diameter.  Pans range from 10″ to 14″ in size and come in both metal and plastic.  They have a means for trapping the heavy elements when they are agitated. In goldpanning, the material is filled along with water and is shaken in a steady way to make the gold and other heavy elements at the bottom and the lighter elements which are unwanted are thrown away.  Native gold also appears in the form of nuggets which can also be separated easily as they are easily visible to the eye.

Gold ore is found as amalgam which is a combination of gold and mercury or as electrum which is its combination with silver.  In either case, a chemical process is used for removing the gold from such ores.  Some gold is also found embedded in hard rocks in the form of fine particles.  For extraction, gold panning can be done and also froth flotation is used for concentrating the gold.
Some of the gold ores contain sulfide minerals in larger quantities and here a chemical process of froth flotation has to be done.  Ore smelting is performed for removing the pure gold from its ore and here the process that takes place is called reduction of the metal, whereby electrons are removed.  This process is just the reverse of oxidation, but it is more than just melting of the ores.
A non metal oxide waste called slag is formed.  The gold ore smelting first involves crushing and milling the gold into dust and then it is classified by sizes.  If the gold is present in the form of very fine particles and is not well liberated from the parent rock, then the concentrates are treated with a chemical process of cyanide salts which is also called cyanidation leaching and then recovered.   
The gold dust is then melted in a furnace along with a chemical flux.  A slag which contains all the other metals in it such as copper, zinc and iron is formed and this can be removed.  What is left behind is pure gold and this is formed into bars.  Direct smelting is also possible.

Gold not just sunlight and water

How to Take Out Gold from Its Host
 By: Ed Brown
In the past gold was believed to be a combination of sunlight and water as it shone brilliantly and was commonly found near water. From the ancient civilizations like Egypt and the cities of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa, gold has been used as a symbol for prosperity. Gold mining is the process of extracting gold from the ground. There are many different techniques and methods for mining gold.
Some of the techniques are gold panning, dredging, sluicing etc. One method that was used in the past was the cradle method developed by Isaac Humphrey. In this method a wooden box with a handle on the side and a ridged bottom is used. The bottom is lined with Hessian cloth. The deposit is put inside the cradle where it is rocked violently with water from a creek. The finer particles go through the screen and any useless residue was discarded. This method allowed a lot of gravel to be examined and so was considered to be a better method than the gold panning method. These methods were however not suitable for commercial purposes.
Open cut gold mining and underground gold mining are used to extract gold for commercial purposes. In open cut mining, the mine will be excavated as a series of layers. These layers are called benches. This way trucks and other vehicles can enter the benches and provide assistance for mining like drilling and ore sampling. The machines are used to remove the rocks after which comes the sifting process. This method utilizes explosives like ammonium nitrate to break the rock. Doing so gets the job done with very less damage to nearby areas. In underground mining everything is done under the ground. A shaft is sunk about 1000 meters deep into the ground after which horizontal tunnels are dug. These tunnels allow the miners to access the gold deposits. The danger of the mine collapsing increases as the mines go deeper and deeper. Even though strict safety guidelines are adhered to by underground mining corporations by providing sufficient support for the walls and ceiling and supplying ample ventilation and lighting, there will always be the imminent risk of complete collapse. The underground mining method may produce results but it is expensive and highly dangerous. Today a wide variety of high tech machinery and techniques are used to successfully extract gold which is then used in its various forms.

Sarah Palin Goes Panning for Gold in Alaska

Sarah Palin panning for Gold