Have you ever tried any prospecting, gold, platinum, gemstones or the like?

[egypt31]

Gold fever wow! I really am excited to get out and get some prospecting in. I have only tried gold panning a few times, but have watched numerous vids on the subject matter. I have never used a sluice but it seems easy enough and the price of gold being so high it almost has to be worth the time and effort.

I just bought a gold pan the other day and panned some dirt in the back yard, I got a rusty nail left at the end of the pan, which means I got to the heavies, now for finding the best place and filing a mining claim.Oh yeah here in America it is still legal to file a mining clam on BLM or also commonly known as public lands. Who knows how long we will be able to do this as it seems as our public lands are being encroached upon a little at a time!!!!!!!

Any advice on a good spot in Colorado I'd love to hear it.

[brum7814]

Yeah, I've done it before and it's borrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrring.  If you want gemstones though, I believe there's a gemstone park in either Utah or Nevada (can't remember off hand) that allows people to rent tools and collect stones from making their own dig sites on the land.  You keep what ever you find.  Some people do it for a living.

[kapeh12]

I remember as a kid when our family was taking a camping trip out west, we stopped at a place to do some panning for gold.  We came away with a gold flake - but I think it was our guide who found that one.  Remembered it was interesting, but was pretty boring and hot too.

[ShadeTree]

I have never done anything like this before, but it would be neat to pan for gold. I would also really like to use a metal detector and see what I could find. You never know what's beneath your feet, it could even be just 12 inches beneath you and you wouldn't even know. Would be pretty cool to find a really old coin or something even cooler. 

[vickysue]

We have gone gold panning in the southern part of our state. But you can only do it in the winter months as it is too hot to do it in the summer in the desert. I know this is telling where i lived for a while. But we went rock hound hunting several times a year in Deming. Found some really good rocks. They have a rockhound roundup every year at the fairgrounds and you can see rocks, gems, minerals and all the things they make out it. It is great.

[Boise40]

I did some prospecting with my uncle when I was younger back in Idaho. we found some cool rocks here and there but, I never found any gold at the time. It would be fun to go prospecting again since I'm older now and see what I can find.

[egypt31]

Luckily I found a Gold prospecting club in Grandjunction Colorado and just spent last weekend camping with them in Gateway Colorado,I spent saturday, sunday, and monday there. They have 9 claims and a couple personal claims, I actually got to work the middle of no where claim that is personally owned and got maybe a quarter gram of flour gold out of 5 gallons of sand. It was amazing.

[vicogden]

I only panned for gold recreationally.  I was stationed at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO when my parents came to visit.  We went to Cripple Creek and mined there just for fun.

[davidf938]

I thought that stuff ended in the 1800's. No, I haven't done any.

[jkhanson]

Many years ago our family did a little panning for gold when we toured the Lead Gold Mine in Lead, SD.
We have a tiny little vial that has maybe a flake in it.

[scollontrade]

I lived in Georgia and I went panning in the North Georgia mountains. Believe it or not that is where the saying "Thar's gold in them thar hills!" came from. There is a town named Dahlonega with a gold mining museum. If I were you I would do some research on the internet and find some books at the library. There is a national club named "Gold Miner's Association" or GMA. They have maps and places to go. If I were going to do it again I would buy the best gold metal detector I could afford. Good Luck!

[cowgirl2116]

No, only thought about it.