Where to Find Gold
By Eric Hammer
Everyone wants to know where to find gold. These days especially,
with gold soaring past $1,400 per ounce (this is being written
at the start of 2011, it seems everyone has gold fever. The problem
however is exactly that - everyone has gold fever and everyone
wants to know where to find gold.
So how do you get into this business of looking for gold?
Well, you have two choices. You can become a professional miner,
in which case you need to pay for licenses to land so that you
have the exclusive right to look for gold or you can be a "recreational"
gold prospector.
A recreational prospector (which is what we're going to focus
on here) is someone who probably has another job (though there
are some who make their entire living prospecting for gold, though
they do it in the same way an ordinary person might do it) and
does this as a hobby and for extra money.
How Much Can You Make?
First, the good news: There are some people who make this
a full time living and some people can find several ounces of
gold per month. With current prices at their fever pitch over
more than $1,400 per ounce, finding out where to find gold can
be profitable indeed.
Now the bad news, most people don't make more than a few dollars
doing this. To get a consistent income, even if you simply pan
for gold the way everyone else might do so, you need to pay for
a license to a private area where you can pan for gold to your
heart's content.
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Keep in mind that there are two ways to prospect for gold.
Most people do it using a gold pan. This is a simple pan which
you use to scoop up a pile of dirt. You then shake it from side
to side so that the heaviest material (namely, the gold, which
is a rather heavy metal) will fall to the bottom. Once that's
done, you pour out the stuff on top and (hopefully) are left
with some flecks of gold. The thing to remember though is that
this is a very time consuming process and to get enough to make
it worth your while, you need to find just the right spot to
do it.
Speaking of that (this is after all, where to find gold),
the best way to find promising locations is to check government
geological records and old mining records. Typically, where gold
has been found before, it can be found again, even if a mine
has been played out.
That's because mother nature takes her time in releasing gold
from wherever it's hiding (remember, it's heavy, so storms that
might break down the rock surrounding the stuff take a lot more
time to break down the gold and thrust it into locations where
it can be found than it does to do it with other kinds of metal).
You can find geological records from both the state and federal
governments. Also, remember that gold prospecting for recreational
purposes is legal on federal land (check with your state government
regarding state land). However, if a location has proven profitable,
someone may have already laid claim to it and paid for a private
license to prospect in that area. Unfortunately, the only way
to find out is to choose a particular spot and then contact the
Bureau of Land Management to ask if it's available for public
prospecting. They don't maintain a list of places to find gold.
Qualifications / Requirements
There's no formal test and anyone (literally, anyone) can
prospect for gold if they so desire. The only catch is to check
and make sure the place you are prospecting on is legal for you
to do so (if you own the land, obviously, you can, however, even
if you don't, it's possible that you can find public land where
it can be done).
First Steps
Start by studying old geological records and mining records
to find out where gold has been found in the past. Then, go out
there and find out if the area is legal for prospecting if it
is, get yourself a gold pan and go to work. If it's not, try
elsewhere.
Resources
Check out these helpful resources to find out more about where
to find gold:
Gold Panning Instructions - While it doesn't
really tell you where to find gold, this resource can be invaluable
since it offers you a very detailed explanation of how to find
gold.
Bureau of Land Management: Recreational Gold Prospecting
on Public Land - This is a great guide to prospecting on
public land. It tells you everything you need to know in order
to figure out where it's legal to do it. Just take your time
reading it because the information can be a bit confusing at
first.
Gold
Prospectors Association of America - A membership organization
for those who are serious about finding gold.
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