subject: Basic Equipment You Need To Start Gold Prospecting [print this page] Gold prospecting during the California Gold Rush may have only discovered 10 percent of the gold in the Sierra Nevada region. What is a fun hobby may turn out to be a profitable adventure for you. Before you start your prospecting trip, you will need to have some basic equipment. By using this basic equipment you may be the next person to strike it rich from prospecting.
You can go out and spend thousands of dollars on the latest gold mining equipment, but if you do not have the budget for that sort of thing you will need only the most basic equipment to start out. A pick, a shovel, buckets, a first aid kit and if you plan on staying overnight camping equipment will get you started. You can start out with just a gold pan. This is a flat pan with sloped sides that you use to collect material from the bottom of a river or stream and slosh it around. The larger pieces stay in the pan while the smaller pieces go over the sides.
A sluice box makes it easy for a single miner to increase his or her production. It is a wooden or metal box that has a screen on the bottom. As you pour water and material into it the smaller pieces fall through leaving the larger pieces for you to sort through. You can use a single box or connect them for a series depending on the amount of material you have to sort.
A gold metal detector is a tool that can help you look for gold underground. If you budget is large enough you can add a gold metal detector to your tool arsenal. This will enable you to search for gold underground. While they work the best in sand or where there is a large amount of soil erosion they will help you find gold in any type of soil. You can even purchase one that works underwater.
Underwater gold metal detectors open up a new area for prospectors to explore. You can search in rivers and lakes. If you are a scuba diver, an underwater detector can be a useful tool for salvage work. Be sure to check the local laws and ordinances before you start gold prospecting. This will save you headaches and legal problems if you do strike a vein or find a substantial amount of gold. Gold prospecting can be a fun hobby that has the possibility of becoming a full time job.
