$800 gold will certainly spur prospecting
 

No question that gold hitting $800 will certaily spur prospecting among outdorsmen and others interested in trying there hand for gold.

I see the signs of new prospectors out there every time I am in the field, but the ball is just getting rolling...

Any of you guys who have not tried your hand at this thinking of giving prospecting a try??

Chris

Re: $800 gold will certainly spur prospecting
 

The paper dollar is dragnetting the best of the lot. I doubt anyone will get out financially alive who is in the mainstream.

Re: $800 gold will certainly spur prospecting
 

I want to try but unfortunately I live in central Texas.

Re: $800 gold will certainly spur prospecting
 

Already has - our local news has a 3-day special feature on gold prospecting in CA cause its gone up so much!

I do all my prospecting at AMPEX! :D

Hey, its a lot less work and I know I'll go home with something! :wink:

Re: $800 gold will certainly spur prospecting
 

I live in northern IL, about all I could prospect for would be corn and soybeans.:D I would love to try if I ever end up moving somewheres else.

Re: $800 gold will certainly spur prospecting
 

"I live in northern IL, about all I could prospect for would be corn and soybeans.:D I would love to try if I ever end up moving somewheres else."

Don't kid yourself. Gold is regularly being recovered in Illinois by weekend/recreational folks who know where it is and go after it.

Geologists report that all the gold in Illinois was carried from the north on several occasions during past ice ages by glaciers, and deposited in "drifts" (or moraines) that later were eroded by waterways.

Gold is found in the counties of Cumberland, Ford (specimens of load gold reported along the Vermillion River), Jackson, Jasper, Lake, Peoria, Stephenson, Vermillion, Wabash, and Winnebago.

If you're interested, the easiest and most efficient way to start is to access the GPAA gold prospectors forum. There is a wealth of information available there and you can get contact names and numbers of GPAA chapters located in Illinois. You'll find they hold (probably) monthly meetings and have no dues. What you'll find is a wealth of education and probably chapter "outings", "common digs", and fund raising work to acquire money that is used to purchase club equipment like hand and power sluices, and dredges.

The folks are friendly and will gladly teach you virtually everything they know. There is a lot of camaraderie amount prospectors; it's important to us that everybody is successful.

Too, get yourself a gold pan and learn how to use it. I guanantee that other prospectors will be more than happy to show you how to use it and then you just need to practice a bit. To this end flatten several lead shot pellets & split-shot fishing sinkers. When you can keep lead in a gold pan you can keep gold because gold is about 1.8 times heavier than lead.

Then get an old table and serving spoon, a hand trowel, and a 3/5 gallon plastic pail with a good handle. Pad the roller-handle with some foam and duct tape for comfort. Take these items and start prospecting creeks and corregated culverts (clean and pan out the materials that have settled in the bottom areas between the corregation ridges) that run under roadways and channel water regularly and just during flood periods. Pay particular attention to waterways that drain through old drift/moraines. Check your library and/or internet to view geology maps that show where glaciers reached their southern most expansion then began to warm, melt, and receed back north. It is at these southern extremes where you will find the gold bearing drifts that were created.

Best of luck to you and yours in this endeavor. Enjoy the great outdoors. Let the "kid" come out, and play in the dirt, the mud, the water, and hunt "Easter Eggs" all at the same time. I call it "The great chase". Marvelous exercise, fresh air, fun, camaraderie, education. I believe that virtually every youngster who develops respect and appreciation for the outdoors and things that are found there, will live a socially healthy drug and crime-free life.

"Big rocks big gold." Love those big rocks!

Re: $800 gold will certainly spur prospecting
 

I find that by the time i pay for fuel, food, equipment, and other misc. costs, I am always better to have gone to the local dealer and spent it on a 1/2 ounce or something...

I do live in a Gold Rush area, but to actually find something large enough to handle is another matter...

Lots of time, money, and sweat, but little proceeds!

Re: $800 gold will certainly spur prospecting
 

Well, the amount of gold you recover is in part luck, but its also directly related to the knowledge and experience of the prospector. I picked up about $1500 worth of gold total for several camping trips I went on this summer. I certainly covered my gas and other basic costs, but after deducting those, probably made only a little better than minimum wage for my time.

Now I could have gone out and gotten a part time job and made the same amount of money, but hey I had a whole lot more fun than I would have had flipping burgers part time or working at the local Wal-mart during the holiday season.

Chris

Re: $800 gold will certainly spur prospecting
 

Yes, Chris - it is an excellent experience.......fresh air, great outdoors, thrill of the hunt....

Its worth it, even to just get away and not take the results too seriously, although one always hopes for find something that makes a clunk in the pan........