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How Can I Find Out About an Old Gold Mine?

Prospecting for gold can be a rewarding activity, but can also be filled with frustration and wasted time. If you are prepared to deal with the ups and downs of trying to prospect for gold, then knowing how to find old mines that have been abandoned long ago will help you on your way to becoming a modern day gold-panner. As with any mining operation, every safety precaution should be followed, including the avoidance of any action that could potentially cause a cave in.

Things You'll Need

Cell phone
Gold pan
Rope
Gloves
Safety equipment
USGS map quadrant

Instructions

- 1
  Contact the nearest offices for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the National Forest Service (NFS) in your area. The BLM and the NFS both are responsible for monitoring and recording resource extraction and land use on most publicly held lands. Either of the federal agencies can tell you about any former gold mines on public property. Different management agencies and land use permits may or may not allow you to remove minerals from certain protected lands. If mines are open to the public then the BLM or NFS will be able to tell you as well as sell you a USGS map quad of the area so that you can figure out specifically how to get there. To increase your chances of finding gold, look for mines with streams and rivers, as most waterways that are managed by the Forest Service are fair game for prospecting.
- 2
  Look on USGS map quadrants. In certain parts of the country, USGS mad quadrants will have a demarcation for old mine shafts, which often are meant to be avoided by backcountry travelers. However, you can use the same knowledge from looking at a map to identify where abandoned mines are located. If you know that an area once had a propensity for producing gold ore, then exploring old mines, as long as safety precautions are taken, may lead to some new gold discoveries. Be sure to check with whoever owns the land if it is privately held or with a government agency if it is publicly managed before attempting to mine.
- 3
  Conduct an Internet search for an area. Although this will bring to you the same information that is readily available for anyone else, it may be a place to start your research if the other methods do not bring any promising results. The upside of the Internet is that there is a lot of information that is available, however the downside is that it is available to everybody.
- 4
  Search the American Mines Database online. If you know the name of your mine or want to research a specific state, then type it into the database and see what pops up. You may then be able to do specific historical searches via the Internet, BLM, USGS records, or the NFS.

Gemology