By Leslie Mitchell


The requirements for mining gold using prospecting tools has changed dramatically over the years. Since the Gold Rush, mining trends have motivated people to use exploration devices that are relevant to the region where an ore vein is located. The quantity of precious metals that can be mined is unlimited if the prospector has the right tools on hand.

Enthusiasts trace river routes and test soil along the way using the most basic instruments. A mining pan is lightweight and can be used to test soil for the presence of ore. Outdoor enthusiasts use hastily erected sluice boxes and washing stations when mining ore from river banks and streams. When gold dust is discovered in rarely traveled paths, a miner might choose to use digging instruments like picks and shovels to reach larger pieces of gold and related nuggets.

For mining gold in the Arctic, protective layers of gear are utilized to maintain body temperatures. Miners will be outfitted with a diving suit, and a suit with an insulated layer. To remove ore from the bottom of the ocean floor, the prospector will use large sized vacuum hoses to suck up soil and bring it to the surface.

Mining enthusiasts in the Arctic would establish an exploration area by cutting a square through the arctic ice layers. A delivery system using a dredging sluice would receive soil at high rates of speed, and water would forcefully remove any ore deposits. The prospecting gear needed for this operation will include a heating system for warming the diver and air hoses for breathing while underwater.

Certain gear will prove useful when miners try to separate fine gold bullion, nuggets and gold pieces from black sand and soil. While mining pans were useful during the Gold Rush, the miners of today prefer to let mechanical devices do the more difficult tasks. Old timers used to rely on the drainage routes formed around rocks, and down slopes and hills to deliver particles of gold that remained in mountainous soil.

High tech tools are preferred for mining ore today and miners achieve good results by using gravity separators, mini sluice boxes and spiral panning wheels. By combining these instruments together, a miner can achieve greater results than miners ever dreamed possible during the early years of the Gold Rush. Using high level water pressure is much simpler than the wooden sluice boxes that were used during the early years.

For locating fragments of gold that remain in beach sand, a vacationer will choose to use a metal detector. To discover precious metals that are buried within reach, but below the Earths surface, the miner will select certain frequency ranges for metal detection. High and low frequency ranges will alert to different sized metals. Professionals find this useful, but the hit and miss ratio makes it more suitable for use by amateurs.

It can be quite thrilling to find discover gold while using highly technical prospecting tools. The mining profession is alive and well because many explorers are entranced by the possibility of discovering gold in unsuspecting places. The challenge of developing new tools for prospecting gold from other regions of the globe will ensure that the thrill factor continues for other generations to enjoy.




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