With gold being worth so much it’s indeed one of the most sought after precious metals. Since the dawn of civilization, the lustrous metal has been highly regarded and used for all kinds of purposes, ranging from barter and coin production to jewelry making. Even today people head out into rivers, creeks, and deserts in hopes of finding enough gold to see a decent profit.
So, how hard is it to find gold?
Finding gold is definitely not easy. With the average concentration in the earth’s crust being 5 grams per 100 tonnes, you certainly need to know where and how to look for it. The good news, however, is that gold concentrations will be much higher at certain places, but finding these locations will take some knowledge, time, and skill.
It should be noted that finding gold isn’t as easy as some people might make it sound. Sure, some people are lucky and strike a paystreak within a few attempts, but to yield consistent results, you need to get a grasp of basic geology and take the time to perform some research about the area.
Don’t worry, you don’t need to be an expert! The knowledge needed is learned easily, but as with most things, you need to get your hands dirty and practice it before it really sinks in!
So, in this article, you will learn some techniques to make finding gold easier.
But first, let’s just look closer at why most prospectors fail!
Table of Contents
Why Most Prospectors Never Find Gold
The biggest reasons why people don’t find gold are:
- They look in the wrong places
- They don’t know where to dig, although they’re on gold-bearing ground.
- They give up too easily
So, let’s look closer at all the points above!
1. They look in the wrong places
Although the old saying goes that “Gold is where you find it”, you are much more likely to find gold in some places than others. Unfortunately, many new prospectors just head out to a random, legal location and start digging.
Such an approach will not yield consistent results over time, and most likely, you are just wasting your time.
Instead, you have to make an informed decision about where to mine.
As an American prospector, you have access to loads of documentation about historical gold findings and mines. Armed with this information, you can focus your efforts on the places that have yielded a lot of gold historically. Although the old-timers got the easiest gold, there is still plenty to find out there if you just know what areas have been producing in the past!
2. They don’t know where to dig
Even if you are in gold-bearing territory, gold won’t be wherever you dig.
In fact, most of the gold is really spotty, and if you don’t know where to dig, the chances are that you are missing the real gold. Paystreaks can sometimes be as narrow as a few inches, which means that you in theory could be missing the real gold by as little as a few feet.
By just knowing the basics, you can focus your effort on those places where gold is most likely to have deposited.
But even then, there is a great element of randomness at play.
You might hit a place that looks promising but come up with nothing. This is completely normal, and before you make a judgment about a location, you should have tested at least a couple of spots.
It can definitely be worth experimenting with the depth as well. In some places the gold will have made it far down into the gravel, perhaps all the way to the bedrock. Then you might want to explore the possibility that the bedrock is acting as a barrier and catching most of the gold.
Lastly, remember that gold can be hard to find EVEN if you work a river that has a great history.
One of the most critical skills you need to develop as a prospector is that of reading a river. My complete guide to reading rivers for gold is definitely a recommended read for anyone starting out!
3. They give up too easily
You simply have to move some material to find gold. Don’t be frustrated if you don’t hit any in your first pans! Consider getting a sluice box to increase the amounts of material you can process!
Of course, nobody strikes gold every time. Even the most experienced of prospectors out there will tell you that many of their trips end with no or close to no gold to speak of.
How Much Money Can You Make Prospecting?
So, if finding gold is hard, how much can you find if you stick to it and fight through.
The amount of money you can make prospecting completely depends on location, skill, and the equipment used. However, consider that most prospectors would be more than happy to find just one pound of gold for the whole season. While it might sound like a lot, it’s not even worth $20,000!
It should be noted that maintaining a full-time salary as a gold miner is extremely hard. Very few succeed to find enough to sustain themselves, and of those who do, many live far from glamourous lives.
Sure, the bigger operations spending millions of dollars on fuel each season could yield great profits when run by a skilled and experienced miner. But that’s probably not the situation any of us are in.
With that said, there are examples of people who do really well. For example, some one-manned suction dredge operations have been reported to generate as much as a few ounces of gold per day, on average. However, these should be regarded as extreme cases!
A recreational Activity!
Most prospectors don’t do it for the money!
Instead, gold prospecting becomes a way of exploring the surroundings, spend some time in nature, and get to hang out with friends. The gold is, beyond doubt, a driving force, but it’s not the only thing gold prospecting has to offer!
For many, it’s an excuse to just get out in nature and perform a relaxing activity!
How To Make Finding Gold Easier
Here are some simple yet effective tips to increase your chances of striking gold!
Use the right equipment!
Using the right equipment is essential. Although you don’t need much to get started beyond a solid gold pan, a sluice box indeed is a great tool to have.
As a matter of fact, by getting yourself a sluice box you will be able to process literally tens or hundreds of times the material as compared to using a gold pan.
Some other pieces of equipment that will make your life easier are:
- A classifier
- A snuffler buttle
- A tweezer
- Jet dry (To break the surface tension of the water while panning)
All of the items above are thoroughly explained in my recommended gear page.
Learn where gold concentrates
Being so heavy, gold will behave differently from the rest of the streambed material and move much less easily. As such, gold will tend to concentrate on places where there is a so-called low-pressure zone, or in simpler terms, where the water slows down.
Some examples of places to check in a river are:
- Behind large obstacles, such as boulders
- On the inside bend
- Where the river suddenly widens or deepens
For much more information about how to read a river, I once again refer to my complete guide to reading a river.
Study the area
Most states are well documented by now, and if you just search the web, you can easily find everything from USGS reports to geological and topographic maps.
Have a look and see if you find something interesting. For instance, you might find that one stretch of a river was worked harder than another. That’s the kind of information that’s worth keeping in mind!
Understand the difference between mining and prospecting
Many newcomers haven’t yet fully grasped the difference between prospecting an area, and mining it.
To be precise, the difference is that prospecting refers to when you go out and explore an area to find out if it holds gold or not, while mining refers to the act of getting the gold out of the ground.
Bu separating these two activities you don’t risk getting stuck time after time as you find small amounts of gold. Instead, you can concentrate your efforts on mapping out the river or location to know where the real quantities of gold lie hidden!
In the long run, this will ensure that your work pays off better!
Research
Read on and learn more! Here at prospecting planet, I have produced several articles that could come in handy:
- How to pan for gold
- Best places to pan for gold in the US
- How to set up a sluice box
- How to choose the right gold pan
Conclusion
Finding gold certainly isn’t easy. In fact, it’s so hard that most people never end up finding any. However, by knowing where to look, and how to retrieve the gold, your chances of finding some increases manifolds!
Happy panning!
