How to Prospect Gold Ore

Research the mineral deposits on public lands through the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and reports supplied by the United States Geological Survey (USGS). Contact the local office to get detailed claim information and activity reports for the area you want to prospect gold ore.

Observe the lay of the land using maps from the BLM or the USGS plus the aerial photographs supplied by Internet mapping from Google Maps. Look for ancient river beds and waterways. Look for exposed bedrock. Locate these identifiers prior to prospecting on site; this makes finding gold easier.

Travel to the mine site with a shovel and a pan for separating the gold from the ore. Walk the site and leave a marker behind where your map research showed the best places for gold to be. Gold concentrates around the bends in waterways, on top of bedrock and under heavy stones that lie in the path of the water.

Clear away the larger rocks and stones from the prospecting site. Sample the gold ore in many places and pan the gold from the gold ore. Keep track of the percentage of gold retrieved from each prospecting sample. Record the concentration and move to another sample site.

Dig for more gold after prospecting a gold claim or site. Use the concentration levels as your guide to mine for gold only in areas of high concentration of gold in the ore. Successful gold mining operations know how to prospect for gold to return the highest profits and concentration of gold in the available ore.