Gold Prospecting – A Way Of Life

Gold Prospecting – A Way Of Life

Article by Art Gib

This past year, my wife and I have taken up the hobby of gold prospecting. We’ve had a fair amount of success so far, sticking mainly to placer prospecting. A placer, which rhymes with gasser, is a sand bank in the middle of a river or stream, and a place where gold and other heavy metals naturally collect.

We pan at these places and are planning to add a dredge and a sluice to our equipment next year. A dredge is a giant vacuum, and can suck up the sand from a placer formation in a matter of minutes. The sluice can do in a matter of minutes what might take several hours with a pan, and we expect to find a lot more color this summer.

Once we have the gold extracted and cleaned, the next step is to take it to precious metal refiners and have it assayed. From that point, we can either have it set as bullion, have it crafted by a goldsmith, or sell it on the open market.

I know of people that can find an ounce or two a day, and for those folks, a hobby has become a great source of wealth. I have even heard the story of one man who goes prospecting for two days, finds enough to pay for all of his expenses, and spends the rest of his month in more lofty pursuits. That is a lifestyle I would love for my wife and family.

In finding a precious metal refiner, we are looking for someone who will allow us to be a part of the process. Part of this hobby is education, and we want to see how things happen every step of the way. If we choose to make something personal out of our finds, we want to work intimately with the goldsmith in creating a design, seeing the wax molds, watching the cast metal be smoothed, shaped, and polished, and the final creation slipped onto the finger or worn around a neck. All in all, it is fascinating, and something that has become a passion.

So, for the remainder of the winter months, we are reading, studying maps, and talking with our more experienced companions so that when the weather warms, we are up and running and finding that gold. One nice side effect is spending time in the great outdoors, and while I am not a huge fan of camping, I could really learn to love it, especially if Mother Earth decided to pay me in gold for it.

Other articles you might like;

No related posts.

Tags: Art Gib, Content Crooner, dredge, finding, Gold, Life, looking, metals, Mother Earth, precious, prospecting, Ross Metals, Stamping Act
Be the first to comment - What do you think?
Posted by shawn - March 23, 2012 at 5:05 pm

Categories: Gold Articles  Tags: Art Gib, Content Crooner, dredge, finding, Gold, Life, looking, metals, Mother Earth, precious, prospecting, Ross Metals, Stamping Act

View the original article here