In the words of Tom Massie, star of the Outdoor Channel's Gold Fever, "... my favorite way of prospecting is the way that gets me gold." Suction dredging with a wetsuit can be quite lucrative— not only from the material you suck up but there's also the chance of picking nuggets out of a crack in the bedrock.
Highbanking along the shore is a bit warmer and dryer, but just as fun. As is gold panning in a stream. Drywashing out in the desert surrounded by sunshine and solitude definitely has appeal. And so does uncovering buried treasure while metal detecting. And don't forget melting or smelting cell phone parts or old jewelry and coins. No matter your favorite way of finding gold, one thing is for certain, there's nothing quite like getting out there— in the field or in the water— and getting your share!
SIZES OF GOLD:
- Specimen: A naturally formed large gold nugget or gold-laced quartz specimen
- Nugget: A naturally formed lump of gold that is big enough to put in a poke and likely won't fit in a typical small vial, depending on its shape
- Picker: A piece of visible gold large enough to easily pick up with your fingers
- Flake: A piece of gold that is large enough to easily spot but is difficult to pick up with your fingers
- Fines: Particles of gold too small to pick up with your fingers
- Gold Dust: Very, very fine particles of gold that resemble dust
- Flour: Gold particles that are barely visible to the naked eye
- Micron Gold: Particles that are invisible to the naked eye
- Color: Any amount of visible gold - usually smaller than a nugget - that you find in your pan
