subject: How To Prospect For Gold In Our Days? [print this page] Gold is the most appreciated precious metal throughout the history of humankind. Despite its obvious beauty this metal made people manifest their darkest instincts. In certain times when people were free to go anywhere and do anything the phenomenon called gold rush appeared.
History counts many gold rushes. The average gold digger was a man with a long untrimmed beard, ragged clothes and a large dirty hat. His food and equipment were carried by a donkey through the wild landscape. Finding gold was a very dangerous activity. The health of gold prospectors was threatened by the cold water where they spent most of their time whether it was winter or summer. Another threat appeared when one of them found gold. If he manifested his joy or told anyone about his luck, it was likely for him to be the target of the greed and endless frustration of his neighbors. His life was in a permanent danger.
Long bearded man, with shabby clothes and large dirty hats roamed the mountains accompanied by their donkeys, in search of the precious metal. You wont see the same faces when you meet contemporary gold prospectors. First of all because nowadays, this activity is only a hobby, like fishing, which allows people to spend time in the middle of nature. Getting rich is not their main purpose but only a dream. They can easily get from one place to another in jeeps, carrying their equipment and food without any effort. Besides they dont need to fear for their lives because people are less violent and obey more to reason.
The equipment also became more sophisticated. Even if old principles are still used the tools have now modern design and are made of better materials. That is why you can start gold prospecting with a new set of gold pans and classifiers. If this technique seems too old you can find in specialized stores sluice boxes which separate the gold from the impurities better than the previous tools. For all this equipment you only need patience and the action of water. There are other options too. One of them is the gold metal detector. And for those who dont have enough patience there are electrically powered tools like dredges and sluices.
Finding gold bullion is still the dream of adventurous people. Fortunately times are different now and there are almost enough jobs for us. We can keep dreaming about cool cars and high tech computers, because jewels and gold coins are no longer among the common peoples desires.
