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Stan Grist's Resources For

Gold Prospectors, Metal Detectorists, Treasure Hunters
and Explorers

http://www.stangrist.com
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Source for Success.
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ALLUVIAL GOLD PROSPECTING COURSE - PART 7 of 7

Contents: Hints and Tips for Prospectors -a collection
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Well, this completes my Alluvial Gold Propspecting Course. I hope that the information in this course will be instrumental in helping you to become a successful gold prospector and find some big nuggest of your own. At the very least it will provide you with opportunities to enjoy our wilderness and escape the day to day stress of living.

Below you will find many useful tips from other gold propsectors that you can use yourself. For more detailed information about where to prospect, I have created The Ancient Deposits Modern Wealth E-book Package. This special package includes information and maps you won't find anywhere else and reveals all of my "ancient river" research, experience, discoveries and secrets.
Please visit:
http://www.stangrist.com/AncientChannels.htm

Hints and Tips for Prospectors

Panning Tub
by Tom Villone, Arizona

I've found that a mortar tray from Home Depot serves many duties. It is a fairly heavy black plastic tub, approximately 24"x18"x6"deep. They have one even larger if needed. The small one described is only $5.99, so I always carry a couple with me.

Cool Tool
by Bill Westcott, California

This tool came with a Vac-Pac I bought several years ago. It is great for scraping out crevices and cleaning bedrock. I used to live in fear of losing it until I found out what it is and where to get them. It's a hoof cleaning tool for horses. I found them at PetSmart but you can probably find them anywhere horse supplies are sold. The ones I found at PetSmart have brightly colored handles so they are harder to lose but the pick part is made of softer metal so they bend more easily.

Dredging with Levels
by Jim Witt, California

I found that judging the right angle of drop on my 2" dredge sluice box was to cumbersome and I was often wrong. I often times work alone and could not take the time to watch the pitch carefully so I attached two levels on the dredge that would visually show me when the dredge was level side-to-side, and when it had the correct drop (2" for 3 foot). I established the correct drop for the sluice box and then mounted the level so that the bubble was centered. This way I also could tell when the rate of drop was wrong. This method worked great!
Ed. Note: This idea could also be used on highbankers, drywashers or any other equipment that require leveling.

Classifying
by Roy L. Calvert,Jr., Indiana

For a terrific classifier when a lot of fine gold is present, and overlooked nuggets aren't a big problem. Most retail stores carry sifters and colanders. I found one with a handle that comes in two sizes, one fits perfectly in the solid, outside portion of the standard galvanized minnow bucket, the larger one will work in a plastic 5-gallon bucket.

I saw Jake Hartwick, at one of the GPAA Gold Prospector shows, using the standard classifier made from a pan, classifying into a plastic bucket. The only thing Jake overlooked was one of the first lessons taught by the GPAA & LDMA, the hydraulic force of water. Jake was classifying dry into his 5 gal. bucket!

If you keep your minnow, or 5 gal. bucket filled to the top, your material will wash through much faster and leave the larger rocks, etc. in your classifier, cleaned of any heavies that may have been clinging to them. You can classifying much more material and faster, but don't forget to check your screen before tossing that material back, you may be pitching back the largest nugget you never found!

Tracking gold
by Mark Naylor, California

I have found that by placing a piece of conveyor belt as your top mat on your dredge you will increase your fine gold recovery. You can find different kinds of conveyor belts at industrial supply stores. You will note the fine intricate grooves and holes in the rubber that will trap almost all your fine gold. It also makes it readily visible which allows you to track were the gold is coming from.

Underwater Viewer
by Roy Madewell, California

I use what I call a "periscope" to look under the water and check out the cracks and crevices. I made mine from a foot long piece of 3" ABS and siliconed a piece of plexiglass between the pipe and a union and cut almost all of the other half of the union off. I left about 3/8" of an inch on the union to protect the plexi from getting scratched whenever I set it down and used a round file to make several channels around this rim.

These channels allow any air to escape from under the rim when you set it in the water and offer a clear view of the bottom and keep air from building up when looking in the white water around rocks. I'm going to make another one of these using 1 1/2" or 2" PVC pipe for use in real shallow cracks since I ALWAYS seem to find a crevice that is too small or shallow to use the larger one.

I think that keeping the length down to 12" for the larger pipe is probably wise since the deeper you plunge it into the water the more your fighting it from trying to float away. Also if you keep the length down on the larger pipe you can use both eyes when looking into it and have much greater depth perception. I'll probably keep the smaller version down to around 18" long to prevent the feeling of looking down a garden hose and make it fit with my pry bars in the upper compartment of my pack.

Expanded Metal
by Chuck Alldrin, California

Home Base has what is called diamond lathe used for plasterwork. It is very light weight and works great to recover fine gold. I use it under the riffles and over the carpet. You can get a sheet approx. 2'x 8' for $2.98. This is plenty to do several projects and give the extra away.

Digging Trowel
by Chuck Alldrin, California

I bent the "heck" out of several cheap trowels and finally found a good CHEAP tool. Wal-Mart has a Corona # CT 3020 Red padded handle trowel for $ 4.97. It is made in the USA and has a LIFETIME warranty. It looks like it might be forged. It is tough and if it bends or breaks it will be replaced "free".

Panning Tubs
by Rich Downing, California

I use the blue food grade barrels (plastic) approx. 55 gal. I cut these with a skill saw about 8 to 10 inches tall. You get two out of a barrel if you find them with the caps in place. I use them for panning out the cleaning's from my sluice at my camp site or at home. I generally pay five dollars per barrel.

Jack Hipp, Oregon

I also use the blue 55 gal. Food-grade plastic barrels, but instead I cut them lengthwise and have 2 very good panning troughs for several to use at once, or use one for the discharge of my "pooptube" classifier and the other for a source of clean water for the operation. Supported on 2 2x4's they are also very easy to clean out and can be drained with the 2 caps.

Sluice Cleanup
by Rich Downing, California

I have found that the produce drawers from old refrigerators work well for getting everything out of the sluice on my dredge. Just find one that is slightly wider than the end of your sluice.

Riffle Material
by Spyder, Oregon

In the sewing/crafts department of the local Walmart or similar department stores you can find a material I believe is called crochet canvas or something to that effect. Essentially, it is a 12 inch square piece of Plastic screen which fits nicely between the carpet and riffles of a sluice box. It greatly increases the recovery of fine gold.

Flood Gold
by Dennis Krupnak, California

After a heavy rain, test pan the side streams that form off the main stream channel. Many are just small diversions that flow back into the main stream. They are often good sites for fine flood gold, which will be close to the surface. The best concentrations are usually at the point where the branch first leaves the main stream, but be sure to test farther down also.

Bedrock
by Dave Peck, Nevada

I have been gold dredging the past several years, and have found myself in public areas that have been dredged many times before. I had spoken to an older couple that had been doing this for quite sometime, and they told me something interesting. They explained to me that in the late summer in the drier season, the bedrock dries and shrinks, creating pockets, cracks, and crevices. In the wetter season, the rush of water moving material down stream fills these areas, and as the bedrock absorbs the water, it swells, thus closing the cracks and pockets.

This last summer, I was in a area that had a lot of bedrock that had been cleaned very well by others. I thought I'd give it a try, so I took a crowbar and screwdriver and pried the bedrock apart (it came apart in sheets), and there between the bedrock sheets was gold, sometimes one to two feet below the surface of the bedrock. I hadn't thought of it before I was told, so just thought I'd let others know.

Classifier
by Brian Benn, California

Another idea for a classifying screen was given to me by a guy named Henry. He is a great prospector. He goes to Alaska with the GPAA and used to pal around with the Buzzard.

Anyway, all you do is get a 4-inch long piece of plastic pipe (PVC) or a section of a plastic bucket. Cut some hardware cloth of whatever mesh you want to the same diameter as your plastic pipe. Heat the bottom end of the pipe on an old hot plate or wood stove. When the plastic starts to melt, take it off and set it on the wire cloth. The plastic will solidify and "weld" the screen to the bottom of the pipe.

Large diameter PVC (8 to 12 inch) works good. The thicker the pipe wall, the better. Scrap pipe can be found at construction sites and scrap bins around industrial sites.

Highbanker
by Brian Benn, California

Henry also has a unique highbanker design in that it has no riffles, just carpet. It's like a beach box. The larger rocks that make it through the grizzly clear off the sluice really fast so he can feed it faster. He might lose some gold but I think he figures that if he loses 10% but feeds 25% more material he'll come out ahead. It seems to work too.

Cement Mixer
by Loren Baldwin, Arizona

Here in Arizona, we have a lot of gold bearing clay & caliche that I separate using a small cement mixer, a couple of small barrels, some PVC (to connect the barrels) and a small bilge pump (500 gph). Basically all that I do is put a few shovelfulls of dirt in the mixer, fill it with water, start the mixer, and recirculate the water. All (or most) of the light material runs out of the mixer into the first barrel, the water transfers into the second barrel, and is recirculated with the pump. This method should work for moss also.

Classifier
by Ron Watson, Washington

The simplest and cheapest classifier I've found is to take a plastic bucket and drill holes in it, the size is personal preference. You should pick a bucket that fits freely into your other buckets to make it easier to twist back and forth during the classification process.

Clean Up Tub
by Joanne, Greg and Azu Dueck, Canada

I have found the black Rubbermaid agricultural tubs to be excellent for cleaning out a large sluice or dredge and working concentrates. I found mine at a Co-Op store but the building supply stores probably have them too. They are strong enough to drag around over uneven ground when full of material and water.

They are fairly pricey but have a number of great features:
· Heavy construction with cross braces underneath
· Heavy, large, curl over rim for a full grip all the way around. Strong enough to drill and put rope handles/attachments on.
· For large dredges, they will hold all the cons and still float to the shore (carefully) once you empty some of the water out. Dredgers can use rope attachments to hold the unit in place while doing a clean up so that it won't sink and frees up another set of hands.
· Large enough to properly shake out those 'golden' mats.
· Range of sizes from (30 and 50 gallon seem to be a good medium size)
· For cleaning cons it is large enough for two people to pan into and keep the overpan material in one spot. Also, large enough to comfortably screen your material.
· Large and sturdy enough to set up you clean-up concentrator inside with overflow buckets etc.

I'm sure there are other brands and varieties out there, look around and pick one for your needs. These larger tubs are great for the larger operations or working the cons at home but are definitely not for everyone even though the weight really isn't bad for the size and uses.
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Questions and Comments from Prospectors who purchased the Ancient Deposits Modern Wealth Package:

Hey Stan, I've got a few questions regarding your Ancient Deposits, Modern Wealth package and your Ecuador Gold Report. Thanks, Dave

1.What is the single most important factor that separates you and other full time successful prospectors from the very unsuccessful full-time guys I've known? You know the type--they're the only gold prospectors that a newbie's family knows of--the guys that have spent their life searching for the Mother Lode--and wind up broke, with an ex-wife, and two steps away from a padded room and straightjacket.

Hi Dave: I actually have come very close to that category myself. I have gone through some pretty difficult times over the years as a result of pursuing the unconventional path that I chose. My biggest gold project took 16 years to develop before it started paying. That is one of my best reasons for developing reports and courses to help other people leap-frog to success and avoid many of the pitfalls that delayed my success.

There are a couple of important points. First, and most important, is research! A successful prospector must understand the geology and history of the area being investigated. This is not simply reading one book. It is an in-depth combination of reading, education, research, interviews, maps, emails to experts, etc. Next is commitment and persistence. This normally results from prospecting being one's passion. In other words, prospecting is something you are probably going to do as a hobby for the rest of your life anyway. So you might as well constantly be improving your knowledge and skills to help save time and find more gold in the long run. You need a systematic approach with a prioritized checklist of activities and objectives.

2. I have a hard time believing that luck is the only thing that separates success and failure, but education doesn't always seem to make a big difference - several of the losers I've known seemed to be very knowledgeable about geology and prospecting techniques.

Stan's answer: Luck comes much more easily to those that prepare themselves properly, use a systematic approach and work hard to achieve their goals. Knowledge alone, is not enough. The successful prospector must deal with reality on a daily basis. I have known too many knowledgeable prospectors who lived with their head in the clouds and just didn't seem to grasp the reality of achieving success.

3. So what is the most important thing I can do to stay out of that category of prospectors?

Stan's answer: Get very specific. Choose a highly-likely geographical area to investigate where gold is known to have been found and commercially produced. This indicates geologically favorable conditions. As an old-timer once taught me... go walk where the elephants walked. Gain an in-depth understanding of both the history and geology of the area. Get detailed topographical maps that you can use to identify specific target areas according to your research. Know how to prospect for gold. Take a class, join an organization, read books, practice, etc. Equip yourself with the right prospecting tools and know how to use them. Prepare to invest in production equipment once you discover the gold for which you searched. A suction dredge is a great way to start a small, commercial production. There are tons of gold out there all over the place, waiting to be discovered. Most people don't realize just how much there really is.

4. The other questions relate to Ecuador. The only specific numbers I saw in the report were of men who were producing 1/3 oz/man/day, and 5g/man/day --which doesn't seem to be all that rich. I suppose that it's pretty good for the guy who hired 30 panners, but not so promising for the one-man show.

Stan's answer: This isn't bad for a guy with a shovel and sluice box. Now put a dredge or backhoe into that same spot and watch the ounces flow daily. I know of small 3-man operations all over Ecuador and South America that produce 5-10 ounces per day and more with an excavator and large sluice box. I also recently saw over a dozen similar operations near Dawson City, Yukon.

5. Am I being unreasonable in thinking that if the fields are so rich, that one man ought to be able to produce more than that?

Stan's answer: No, you are correct. One man using his brains, experience and hard work can build production to whatever degree he wants almost anywhere in the world.

6. After I get a bit of experience closer to home (Arizona), I'd like to plan a trip to Ecuador - but I want to have reasonable expectations. My wife is ready to move to Ecuador next week so we can prospect and find lost cities, but I want to make sure that we don't fulfill our families' predictions that we'll end up in that class of gold hunters in my first question!

Stan's answer: First of all, you sound wise to me. Take things systematically with a plan...one step at a time. You live in one of the greatest places in the world for finding and producing gold. Arizona is tops in my book. Ten lifetimes would not be enough to properly explore your state. Next, you should come to Ecuador or South America as a vacation. Try to spend as much time as you can so that you can get a feel for the place. It is not for everyone. There are good points and bad. Be sure to learn the language before you come as it will give you an entirely different experience as opposed to not being able to speak with locals. I can't stress how important this is. In Arizona you have lots of opportunities to practice your Spanish.

To Stan and the staff at Adventures Into the Unknown,

I can't believe that I found gold so close to my home in San Luis
Obispo! Using the book in your gold package, I went gold prospecting on the east side of the La Panza mountain range. I spent the entire day checking out the creeks that run in to the San Juan River. Every single creek had gold!!! I also spoke with some people about the Lost Padre mine. I'm thinking of doing some research and looking for it. I am really hooked by the gold bug now. Thank you, Ken Ryder

Stan,
I live in Las Vegas and recently took a prospecting trip to Randsburg,
California. What an amazing place this is. The information in your
Ancient Deposits report is right on! My friends and I panned out 2 ounces of gold in one weekend! We are thinking of buying some claims just outside of town now. Randsburg is such a beautiful little town. I highly recommend it for a great vacation. Many Thanks, Robert Lamb

Dear Stan,

I found gold in every pan just south of Idaho Springs in Colorado! I've been gold panning as a hobby for 20 years. In one day I found more gold than I have in all of the 20 years combined. I never knew this could be so easy! Sincere thanks, Les Davenport

With the price of gold bouncing between $500 to $700 an
ounce wouldn't you love to find some with your metal
detector right now?

"Stan, Just wanted you to know about some success I had
recently. I live near San Diego. Last week I tried your
trick for finding jewelry at the beach. I found 5 gold
rings in one pocket in shallow water! This added up to
more than 1 ounce of pure gold. Thanks for that method,
it is brilliant. Sincerely, Jim Trottier, San Diego CA"

FIND GOLD CLOSE TO HOME

Did you know that gold is everywhere and that you don't
have to travel far away to find it? It can be found in many
different forms such as gold rings, gold coins, gold nuggets
and flakes, complex ores, circuit boards, old jewelry and
gold bars, to name a few.

Many people have written to me asking how they can find
gold close to their own home. I am very pleased to
announce my new report "Find Gold Close To Your Home."
This report is unlike anything you have ever heard of or
seen before. My new report teaches you how to even find
lost or hidden gold right at home, no matter where you live
in the world. You can find gold close to your home, around
your neighborhood, your city, or outside city limits using
the information and tips detailed in my new report.

Much of this information gathered from over 35 years of my own
and others' personal experience is now being revealed for
the first time. It is designed to maximize your chances of
success in finding gold. To get all the details or to order
'Find Gold Close To Your Home" please visit:
http://www.stangrist.com/FindGold.htm

ANCIENT DEPOSITS MODERN WEALTH

If you want to find alluvial gold in large quantities,
you have to find the ancient tertiary river channels.
They exist throughout all of the western Americas, from
Alaska to Chile. The vast majority of these deposits are
still virgin and unexplored. For more detailed and
extensive information about the ancient alluvial river
deposits and where to find them, please have a look at
my Ancient Deposits Modern Wealth Package. This special
package includes information and maps you won't find
anywhere else and reveals all of my "ancient river"
research, experience, discoveries and secrets.

Please visit:
http://www.stangrist.com/AncientChannels.htm
for more information about the package.

How to make a living doing something you love...

If you didn't have to go to work everyday and could afford to travel anywhere in the world to discover gold, ancient treasure or a lost city, where would you want to go and what would you hunt for?

You can leave the rat race behind, live a life of adventure and freedom plus earn a great living at the same time - I did and I will show you how to do it step by step with my new 2006 epackage "Creating Wealth Through Adventure with the Stan Grist System"
Find out more about my new system:

http://www.stangrist.com/CreatingWealthSystem.htm
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Copyright ©, 2002. http://www.stangrist.com.
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Published by Stan Grist and Susan Millar
(c) copyright 2002, Stan Grist, All Rights Reserved
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