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Monday, December 10 2012

The Gold Prospectors Association of America (GPAA) has announced its 2013 Gold & Treasure Expo schedule. Coast to coast, there are 13 shows, including some new locations, and all are set to be bigger and better than ever. GPAA is using the word "Expo" now to emphasize that the shows feature not only educational classes, but vendors ready to sell you products and answer your questions.

According to GPAA Trade Show Manager Gary Sturgill, the 2013 Expos will focus on education, including how to prospect and pan for gold. Venue to venue, the speakers will differ so that local prospectors can talk about where to look for gold in their locales. Attendees can expect to hear new guest speakers, and well as returning favorites such as Mike Pung, inventor of the Gold Cube. Kevin Hoagland, GPAA Executive Director of Development will teach about metal detecting, and Walt Wegner, Vice President of Public Lands for the People will discuss land rights issues.

Although reality TV shows about gold mining are fun to watch, they are often not realistic. It's true that there is still a lot of gold left to recover, but it's not as easy as it sometimes appears on TV— and not everyone owns a gold claim. Luckily, you don't have to. Members of GPAA have access to more than 350 gold-bearing mining claims across the country, which means you have a golden opportunity to find your own gold and keep every bit of it. 

The Gold & Treasure Expos are open to the public. Admission is $5 or FREE if you pre-register online at least two weeks before show dates. The first 100 paid attendees will receive a FREE vial with some placer gold.

Gold & Treasure Expo 2013 Schedule

Pomona, California
Saturday, Jan. 12 - Sunday, Jan. 13, 2013
Pomona Fairplex
1101West McKinley Ave.
Pomona, CA 91768
Hall E

Mesa, Arizona
Saturday, Feb. 9 – Sunday, Feb 10, 2013
Mesa Convention Center
263 N Center Street
Mesa, AZ 85211

Quartzite, Arizona
** Friday, Feb. 15 – Sunday, Feb. 17, 2013
Quartzite Improvement Assn. Bldg.
235 East Ironwood Street
Quartzite, AZ 85346

Turlock, California
Saturday, March 23 Sunday, March 24, 2013
Stanislaus County Fair
900 N Broadway
Turlock, CA 95380
Building E-1

Salem, Oregon
** Friday, March 29 - Saturday, March 30, 2013
Oregon State Fairgrounds
2330 17th St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
Columbia Hall

Puyallup, Washington
Saturday, April 6 – Sunday, April 7, 2013
Puyallup Fairgrounds
110 9th SW
Puyallup, WA 98371
Doll Building — Parking: Gold Lot

Albuquerque, New Mexico
Saturday, April 13 – Sunday, April 14, 2013
New Mexico State Fair
300 San Pedro NE
Albuquerque, NM 87108
Lujan Hall B

Las Vegas, Nevada
Saturday, April 27 - Sunday, April 28, 2013
South Point Hotel & Casino
9777 South Las Vegas Blvd.
Las Vegas, NV 89183
Halls B & C

Reno, Nevada
Saturday, Aug. 17 – Sunday, Aug. 18, 2013
Livestock Events Center
1350 North Wells Ave.
Reno, NV 89512

Pecatonica, Illinois
Saturday, Aug. 24 – Sunday, Aug. 25, 2013
Winnebago County Fairgrounds
500 West First St.
Pecatonica, IL 61063
Moss Hall

Jacksonville, Florida
** Friday, Sept. 6 – Saturday, Sept. 7, 2013
Prime F. Osborn III Convention Center
1000 Water Street
Jacksonville, FL 32204

Charlotte, North Carolina
** Friday, Sept. 13 – Saturday, Sept. 14, 2013
Metrolina Tradeshow Expo
7100 Statesville Rd.
Charlotte, NC 28269

Millwood, West Virginia
** Friday, Sept. 20 – Saturday, Sept. 21, 2013
Jackson County Armed Forces Reserve Center
8832 Point Pleasant Rd.
Millwood, WV 25262

Show hours:
** Friday: 12 noon - 8 p.m.
Saturday: 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Sunday: 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

 

Posted by: Denise AT 11:35 am   |  Permalink   |  0 Comments  |  Email
Monday, November 05 2012

Drywashers are like highbankers, but they do not use water, making them excellent tools for recovering gold from dry material in desert areas. A dry washer is basically designed to be a waterless sluice. It separates gold from sand and other waste material with pulsations of air, vibrations, and static electricity instead of running water.
 

drywasher

The top portion of a drywasher is called a hopper and consists of a box covered with wire screen. The screen is called a "grizzly." Dry gold-bearing material is fed onto the grizzly, which is mounted at a fairly steep angle. Thinner material, such as dirt and small gravel, falls through the grizzly screen and into the hopper. Larger material, such as rocks and sticks, roll off the grizzly and back onto the ground. Material from the hopper is then fed by gravity into the riffle tray below (looks like a sluice box), through an opening in the bottom of the hopper.

The under side of the riffle tray consists of a piece of stretched cloth that allows air to pass through the bottom of the riffle tray. A fan is mounted inside the sluice box and spins as air is blown up through holes in the bottom, usually by a leaf blower or another source of compressed air. Mounted on the fan is a weight that throws the fan off balance when spinning, and vibrates the entire box. This additional vibration assists in forcing flour gold to the bottom to be trapped, whereas lighter material is blown off.

Keep the following tips in mind, and you just might see the results of your drywashing efforts pay off even better:

• Moist soils and clay cause problems, so be sure to crush lumps of clay and dry your dirt in the sun (plastic tarps are ideal) before running through your dry washer. Surface soils might seem dry, but if you dig down a few inches, you may find moisture in the soil that will cause your sand, gravel, and gold to stick together.
• Double-check all the "throw away" rocks that get stuck in the grizzly before discarding. Scanning them with a metal detector is a great way to ensure you're not tossing aside gold-laden rocks. Another time to use your detector is on old tailings piles. These ordinary looking rocks could be laced with gold, yet were completely over-looked by earlier prospectors.
• Don't limited yourself to drywashing in "proven" areas. Because of the high costs associated with inaccessibility and lack of water, most desert regions have gone largely untouched by mining operations of yesteryear. A side benefit is that you don't have to go far off the beaten path. Virgin ground can be found in washes right off major roadways.
• Keep an eye on the terrain. Areas where the greatest amount of erosion has occurred are usually the areas where the highest concentration of gold values might be found.
• One of the best locations to look for gold is where the hills meet the desert and fan out. This is where flood waters from storms drop gold in the gullies and washes. There also may be more gold traps further up on hillsides. All it takes is one good storm to change the face of a desert landscape, so drywashing after a storm can potentially uncover previously hidden gold!

Gold Buddy drywashers are made in the USA and available in four sizes— Colt, Pony, Maverick, and Stallion. Each drywasher comes with a FREE "Working the Drywasher" instructional DVD, FREE shipping in most cases, and has a 5-year manufacturer's warranty.

Posted by: Denise AT 02:56 pm   |  Permalink   |  0 Comments  |  Email
Wednesday, October 03 2012
Garrett has announced that the AT Gold introductory detector package that includes the detector, headphones, gold pan, book, vials and other FREEBIES, will no longer ship with the FREE stuff. Instead, buyers will get the detector and headphones only for the same price. You can still get the package with FREEBIES for a limited time, so order your AT Gold detector package now while still available!

Garrett is also phasing out the GTI 1500  and the GTP 1350 detectors at the end of 2012. If you are considering one of these machines, buy now while still available.

Reminder — GoldRushTradinPost.com offers FREE SHIPPING on all detectors $350 or more!
Posted by: Denise AT 02:58 pm   |  Permalink   |  0 Comments  |  Email
Sunday, September 02 2012
If you're looking for metal detector that will find the smallest gold nuggets in highly mineralized soils, then Fisher's Gold Bug Pro is your machine! Fisher's legendary Gold Bug now incorporates new state-of-the-art advanced algorithms to provide you with extreme ground/target information. It's a multi-purpose detector, and a new coil combo package makes the popular Gold Bug Pro detector even better! This special package at a special price pairs the Gold Bug Pro with the 5” DD coil AND the 10" DD elliptical coils.

Gold Bug Pro Coil Combo

This is the perfect detector and coil combination for prospectors and relic hunters at a special low price.
The recently new
5x10 solid DD coil has excellent depth and unbelievable target separation capabilities and has become the go-to coil for many. This coil was designed for the Gold Bug series and it has incredible sensitivity to small targets. It's a real must-have for gold prospectors, and the solid construction makes it great for field stubble. Excellent for coins, relics and jewelry hunting and the standard 6.5 foot cord has shallow water hunters cleaning up.

Here's what you can expect from the Gold Bug Pro Metal Detector Coil Combo:

  • Finds the smallest gold nuggets in highly mineralized soils
  • Unmatched target separation in iron trash
  • V-Break is the Industry's First Variable Breakpoint tone discrimination system
  • Big Easy-To-Read LCD Display
  • Computerized Ground Grab 
  • Real-Time computerized ground balancing
  • V.C.O. Audio in All Metal & Discrimination Mode
  • Independent control over Threshold & Gain
  • Continuous Ground Condition Readouts
  • Ground Phase value indicates type of mineralization
  • Fe3O4 graphic indicates amount of mineralization
  • Static Pinpoint with depth indicator
  • 3-pole system
  • Comfort Hand-Grip
  • Arc-detector Stand
  • Dual Headphone Jacks
  • 19kHz Operating Frequency
  • Ultra Simple User Interface
  • Ultra-Lightweight (2.5 lbs)
  • 5 inch DD waterproof searchcoil comes standard
  • 10 inch solid DD coil with excellent depth and unbelievable target separation capabilities
  • Made in America
  • 5 year warranty from Fisher Labs
Buy Gold Bug Pro Detector Coil Combo package now!
Posted by: Denise AT 04:13 pm   |  Permalink   |  0 Comments  |  Email
Sunday, August 19 2012

Lightweight and designed for outdoor adventurers and anyone who likes to be prepared, Aurora Fire Starters will start a lifetime of campfires and are considered the best all-around survival fire starter in the world! Two models are now available and are perfect for prospectors who also camp while in the field.

 Aurora Fire Starters
 

The 440C model is equipped with a stainless steel striking blade made from fully hardened 440C stainless steel that can be flipped over to reveal a fresh striking surface or be sharpened after prolonged use. 
 

The 2SA model is equipped with a tungsten carbide (super alloy) striking blade that will never dull and will give even better sparks because it is one of the hardest materials on earth.  The super alloy striking blade can also be used to sharpen knives in the field. The super alloy blade was designed for military personnel and is the best fire starter out there— as validated by the Navy Diver Olympics and the 2SA has even been up Mt. Everest!

Watch the video to learn more about Aurora Fire Starters.

Posted by: Denise AT 05:01 pm   |  Permalink   |  0 Comments  |  Email
Monday, August 06 2012
Do you have a website, blog, or forum that caters to gold prospectors, metal detectorists, treasure hunters, or rockhounds located in the USA?  Would you like the opportunity to earn an 8% commission on all sales you refer to our website? If so, we invite you to join the Gold Rush Trad ing Post Affiliate Program!

How It Works

We use a trusted third party affiliate solutions provider (Shareasale.com) to track referred sales, calculate commissions on those sales, and send out commission checks. Once you complete your affiliate application with Shareasale.com and are approved (it's free to sign up), you will be provided with a unique ID and tracking links that tell our system whenever you refer a visitor. If that visitor decides to make a purchase within 60 days of clicking your link, you earn 8% of the purchase price (excluding shipping). Tracking, reporting and payments are handled by Shareasale, and your affiliate account will include up-to-date earnings reports and stats.

Program Details
  • 8% commission on sales to customers in the USA (excluding shipping)
  • 60 Day Cookies
  • Questions? Call us at 503-583-2715 or email us here.
The Gold Rush Trading Post Affiliate Program is your opportunity to earn commissions for marketing the very wide line of products we sell on this site. You'll find everything here from gold pans to dredges, highbankers, drywashers, power sluices, spiral panners, metal detectors, coils, snake bite protection, Woodman's Pal machetes, and other general outdoor products.
Posted by: Denise AT 08:25 pm   |  Permalink   |  0 Comments  |  Email
Friday, July 13 2012
It's summer, and that probably means you'll be vacationing or playing near water this month. Whether you're heading to a local lake or to an ocean across the country, take your metal detector. Beach hunting is fun and easy, and usually the finds are, well, pretty fine! Recovering an object from sand is pretty easy, too, especially compared to digging in hard ground. A sand scoop makes target recovery fast and easy.
metal detecting
Water and sunscreen have a sneaky way of slipping rings from fingers of swimmers and sunbathers, making beaches a lucrative location for metal detecting. Necklaces, watches, and bracelets are also great finds on beaches, along with coins— lots of coins. Although some beaches can yield historic artifacts, most finds will likely be of the modern variety.

Some detectorists will argue that the best time to find goodies on a beach is after winter storms. While that’s certainly true, summer crowds can mean a fresh crop of coinage and jewelry just waiting to be found by you.

Beach hunting can be done in dry sand or out in the water where many more rings are lost. Salt water beaches present special problems (mineralization) and you must determine if you will hunt only in dry sand, dip the coil under water in the shallows, or desire a totally submersible metal detector suitable for deep water wading or diving. All quality metal detectors have submersible search coils but not all control boxes are waterproof or suitable for the pressures of deep water diving, so match your detector to the type of detecting you’ll do.

In all types of beach hunting, the discrimination must be kept very low, eliminating only small iron (bobby pins and nails). Aluminum pull tabs and tin foil should not be discriminated or gold and/or platinum rings may not be detected.  Some beach hunters operate with zero discrimination and dig everything. Article continued here...
Posted by: Denise AT 04:21 pm   |  Permalink   |  0 Comments  |  Email
Sunday, June 24 2012
The words "concentric" and "DD" (or "double-D") refer to the type of your metal detector's internal coil construction. Most searchcoils (whether round or elliptical) are of concentric construction. A concentric searchcoil has a large transmitter coil, and a smaller receiver coil in the center, usually in the same plane. This coil arrangement is relatively easy to manufacture and its symmetry helps to minimize electrical drift due to time and temperature. It also provides good discrimination on shallow targets.

search coilSome searchcoils (whether round or elliptical) are of DD construction. Double-D's comprise two overlapping D-shaped coils of approximately the same size, one being the transmitter and the other the receiver. The advantages of the DD are greater depth in mineralized soil, a broad sweep pattern, and narrower target response. Its primary disadvantages from a user's point of view are multiple responses on shallow targets and poor discrimination of flat iron objects. Designing and manufacturing them is more difficult because their lack of radial symmetry makes them prone to drift which the design and the manufacturing process must minimize. Manufacturing cost is higher because the coils cannot be wound on high-speed winding equipment.

Double-D's are usually preferred for relic hunting and gold prospecting. Concentrics are usually preferred when searching for modern coins in an area where there is also iron and aluminum trash.

Read more about searchcoils here...
Posted by: Denise AT 09:43 pm   |  Permalink   |  0 Comments  |  Email
Friday, June 01 2012
A highbanker is basically a sluice box with mobility and added height. It is mounted on a 4-legged stand that gives the sluice box the correct slope. Instead of being put right in the creek like a sluice, an engine with a water pump and some hoses transports the water up from the stream into the highbanker. Highbankers are also called power sluices. It is a self-contained unit with many uses— prospecting, sampling, and concentrate clean up.

In general, a highbanker or power sluice ishighbanker extremely efficient at trapping gold, including very fine or "flour" gold. The biggest benefit of having this piece of gold prospecting equipment is the ability to process gold-bearing gravels located a distance away from a water source— in other words, you get to bring the water to the gravel, not the gravel to the water! You can purchase a highbanker with a pump/motor and all hoses and fittings included, or you can buy those items separately.

To run a highbanker, you need a system to pump water to it. Highbanker pumps can be either electric (12 volt battery) or gas driven. Some highbankers are also designed and constructed to re-circulate water so they can be employed in situations where little water is available. Keep in mind that the pumps deliver less water as your equipment location is moved uphill. Pumping uphill increases the resistance on the pump, and as you move uphill, eventually there is a point where the pump will not provide sufficient water to run the high banker. The slope on the highbanker usually ranges from about three to four inches per foot.  Article continued here...
Posted by: Denise AT 09:51 pm   |  Permalink   |  0 Comments  |  Email
Tuesday, May 15 2012
Following the discovery of gold in Coloma, California on January 24, 1848, boomtowns sprang up quicker than weeds. Just eight miles away, Old Dry Diggins was one such tent-filled mining camp that took root. So named because miners had to move cartloads of dry soil to running water in order to separate out the gold, the population quickly swelled from hundreds of gold seekers to thousands.

gold mining history

As to be expected, things got a little lawless and wild, and the name changed to Hangtown after numerous hangings took place in quick succession. Today, we know this historic gold rush town as Placerville, which has been the El Dorado county seat for the last 155 years.

gold mining history
Over the years, Placerville has lost many of its old buildings due to fire and demolition, but some landmarks, such as its bell tower, still exist.  It was once used as a warning bell for fire and is located in downtown Placerville.
Posted by: Denise AT 04:17 pm   |  Permalink   |  0 Comments  |  Email

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