You’ve seen the shows like Gold Rush and Alaska Gold Diggers; you enjoy getting outdoors and exploring new territory and wouldn’t mind trying your hand at gold prospecting. For the more experienced this can be quite a rewarding experience, however is gold prospecting for beginners a worthy pursuit or should you go prospecting with more experienced gold hunters?
Below we go through some of the things you will need to know when going gold prospecting as a beginner.
What is gold prospecting?
As the name suggests, gold prospecting is the act of searching or looking for gold, sifting through dirt or water or going underground on the hunt for the golden treasure. Gold prospecting has been around for many a century, with plenty of people hoping to change their fortune with a great gold prospecting find.
Gold prospecting tends to fit into two categories, placer prospecting (looking in water using a gold pan) and hard rock prospecting (looking under ground using a metal detector)
Placer prospecting involves using a pan with an alluvial deposit (deposits found in rivers or water streams) to filter out any gold from the deposit. This method is usually the cheapest and easiest as the only equipment you really need is a gold pan plus a classifier/sifter.
Hard rock prospecting involves using sophisticated equipment (such as a metal detector) to find underground deposits and either dig these up by hand or drill down to these deposits.
Where can I prospect for gold?
Essentially in a location that isn’t privately owned and where gold prospecting is allowed. Ideally you would begin your gold prospecting adventures at or near a location where gold has been previously discovered or successfully prospected. Countries that gold is mined include the USA, Canada, South Africa, Brazil and Australia. Most of the gold in these countries is also found in the Western areas of these countries.
Before going prospecting make sure you do your research on the legality of gold prospecting in that location as you would hate to go to all that trouble and even find some gold only to be hit with a fine (as well as losing any potential gold) for prospecting illegally. You may need a permit before you go prospecting so reach out to the local authorities before you become your prospecting expedition.
What equipment do I need to prospect for gold?
For Placer Prospecting
Given that you will be in the water accessing deposit you will need a pan and a sifter to filter out all the ‘rubbish’ to leave you (hopefully) with some gold. The basic equipment needed for this style of prospecting is a couple of different sized pans, a classifier and sifter and depending on your preference, a magnet, cloth, magnifier and obviously something to hold any gold finds. This equipment is usually pretty inexpensive with a decent beginner’s gold panning kit available for under $70 USD from quality retailers one of which we recommend below.
For Hard Rock Prospecting
As this style of prospecting involves search for deposits underneath the surface you will need some quality
Metal detectors have a large range in quality and in price. As a beginner you don’t want to be forking out thousands of dollars on a metal detector while you are learning the ropes however you also want to make sure that you are getting a quality product so as not to waste your time out prospecting.
A decent beginners metal detector should only set you back about $250 USD and these can be found at any decent retailer, one which we recommend below.
Recommended Beginners Gold Prospecting Equipment
We recommend one beginner’s kit for placer gold prospecting and one beginner’s kit for hard rock gold prospecting equipment.
Placer Prospecting
Minelab Pro-Gold Gold Panning Kit
This beginner’s kit comes with a 15 inch and 10 inch plastic gold pan along with a classified/sifter, magnet, magnifier, suction bottle, pipette, 2 vials and a getting started guide.
It’s a very well priced beginner’s kit and has everything that you will need for your introduction to gold panning.
Hard Rock Prospecting
Minelab Vanquish 440 Metal Detector
This metal detector weighs only 1.2kg (2.6lbs) and is easy to carry. Has noise cancelling headphones and the detector has a range to up to 5m underground. This detector also has waterproof coils up to 1m and is highly recommend for any beginner.
Large Gold Prospecting Finds
The biggest (known) gold prospecting find was the Welcome Stranger gold nugget found by John Deason and Richard Oates in 1869 at Mollagul Victoria. The Welcome Stranger was believed to have been discovered only 3cm below the surface. This nugget weighed a whopping 97.14 refined kg (3,123 troy ounces). It is believed this nugget was so big that no suitable scale was available and the nugget had to be broken into 3 pieces. The Welcome Stranger was eventually melted down into gold ingots.
Another large nugget (and also found in the Victorian (Australia) gold fields) was the Welcome Nugget. This large nugget was discovered in1858 by a group of miners in Ballarat in a mine tunnel about 55 metres underground. This nugget weighed 68.98kg (2,217 troy ounces) (believed to be a record at the time) and was eventually minted into gold sovereigns (coin).
The smallest nugget on this list, this nugget was found (as the name would suggest) in the Mojave Desert by a prospector Ty Paulsen using a basic metal detector in 1977. The Mojave Nugget weighed approximately 4.9kg (156 troy ounces). This nugget is on display at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.
Safety tips when you are gold prospecting
- Know the area that you will be prospecting in and around. Take a detailed map with you if possible and notice any potential safety issues particularly if you are going to be out in the dark. . The area could have unstable land (such as near abandoned gold mine shafts or gold mine or even along a muddy river bed).
- Always travel with a first aid kit and know basic first aid do you know that basics in the event of a snake bite or if some breaks or badly cuts a limb? A simple first aid course could save yours or someone else’s life.
- Always have a charged mobile phone (assuming mobile phone reception).
- If there is no mobile phone reception, take a map and a compass with you.
- Always let someone know your travel plans and itinerary and how long you aim to go prospecting for.
Gold prospecting is a great way to get outside and explore our great planet and you may even get the opportunity to make some money. Make sure that you get some quality gold prospecting equipment, do some detailed research on the area you wish to go gold to making sure it’s relatively safe and have go out and have some fun.