General Gold Information
Gold is widely distributed in all igneous rocks, usually pure, often found uncombined in nature, but in low concentrations; its recovery from ores and
deposits has been a major preoccupation since ancient times. Jewelry and other decorative objects have been crafted
from gold for thousands of years. In addition to being used in jewelry and as currency,
gold is used in electrical contacts and electronic circuits, as a heat reflective layer in space applications and
on windows, as well as in filling and replacing teeth. Dental alloys are about 75% gold, and 10% silver.
A soluble gold chloride compound has even been used to treat rheumatoid arthritis.
The civilized world's gold supply has seen three major leaps, one with Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas in 1492,
again with the goldrush discoveries in California and Australia (1850-75), and the Klondike discoveries in Alaska,
and also in South Africa around the same time (1890-1915).
The first major gold strike occurred in California in 1848, when John Marshall, a carpenter building a saw mill for
John Sutter, found gold. Within a year about 80,000 "forty-niners" had flocked to the California gold fields, and
250,000 had arrived by 1853. Some mining camps grew into permanent settlements, and the demand for food, housing,
and supplies propelled the new state's economy. As gold became more difficult to extract, companies and mechanical
mining methods replaced individuals. Smaller gold rushes occurred in Colorado (1859, 1892), Nevada (1859), Idaho (1861),
Montana (1863), South Dakota (1876), Arizona (1877), and Alaska (1898) and resulted in settlement of
many areas; where gold veins proved small, the settlements became ghost towns.
Ever since the days of the 1849 California Gold Rush, prospectors,
treasure hunters and vacationers have flocked to the west coast to hunt for gold.
They use gold pans, sluice boxes, metal detectors, dredges and
drywashers in their prospecting from Canada to Mexico.
Recreational gold panning has today become a popular hobby. A simple
gold pan is effective in detecting and recovering small amounts of gold from a streambed.
Metal detectors can be used to detect larger nuggets in dry desert washes, and with the
right coil, in those rare running streams in desert areas.
Drywashers are also used to good advantage in recovering gold in these same arid areas.
In places with running streams, inexpensive light weight sluice boxes are often
used to increase the amount of material being washed
for gold. Click on "Ghost Towns" above and read my own sluice box story.
Where to Look
The old 49'ers had a good saying that is still valid today..."gold is where you find it!" There are stories of
ignorant prospectors following their burros into some very unlikely places and striking
it rich. Perhaps the secret is known by burrors. Burrors are smart.
Gold being one of the basic elements
of which the universe is made, is found in tiny small amounts almost everywhere. Did you know that sea water
contains gold. About one pound per 5000 tons of water! Someday someone will come up with a way to
get it out. If you could filter all the water in the oceans you would end up with about
10 billion tons of gold.
On land gold is mixed with rocks formed under great heat and pressure. The rock is worn away over many years
by wind and rain. The gold then becomes seperated from the rock and is washed down into streams and rivers.
Being heavy it gathers along banks and behind bolders
This kind of mining is called "placer" mining and the stream deposits are called "placers".
Very young or very old mountains are likely places for gold. Mountains of tertiary or quaternary age are good.
This means that in the United States most all mountains west of the Mississippi are good candidates, especially
the Rockies and the Sierra Nevada. Prospecting for gold is like being a detective. When
you find some small flakes in your gold pan, you realize they are only clues leading to the
source of that gold. Gold being heavy, settles to the bottom of the wash where ever the current
becomes too weak to carry it along. Knowing this the wise prospector will pick a spot along the stream
where the current slows down or changes direction. The inside bend of a stream or the upstream
side of a sandbar are all good spots to pan. The same logic applies to the dry washes of the deserts, and
although the water is gone, and the gold may be a little deeper, they are good spots to set up the drywasher.
Another good clue in a dry wash is black sand. Gold is often mixed in with black sand. The black sand is called magnetite
and is magnetic. A small magnet will pick up a huge amount of it. However, if the black sand is very evenly
distributed, the yield of gold will be poor. But if it shows in sharply defined layers or bands then
the gold may also be concentrated in these strata and bands.
Gold Prices
In 1979 Gold prices fell to a low of $216.85 an ounce, and many of the gold mines closed down operations.
However, just a few years later gold climbed back up to $412.00 and people, once again, started to get excited over gold.
Well, if you think $412.00 was good, in 1980, $481.50 was the LOW! The high for gold in
that year went all the way up to $850.00! Currently, as I write this, it's around $350.00 an ounce and moving up.
Check the "gold price" chart at the top of this page for today's price.
Placer Nugget Prices
Now, please keep this in mind, one ounce of refined gold may be worth $350, but a small one ounce placer nugget,
the type found in a stream bed, or in the riffles of a drywasher, can be worth many times the current gold price
to jewelry makers and collectors. I'm told that currently, a one ounce gold nugget is worth somewhere between
$2,000 to $4,000 on the open collectors market.
The Incredible Value of Gold Can't Be Beat
With the turbulent economy showing no signs of slowing up,
there's just simply no better time to start investing in gold than right now! Gold has been an asset of perceived
and practical value for millennia. Though the uses of gold have evolved over thousands of years, the fact that
people want it has not subsided. Considered a de facto currency, gold can be used in nearly any transaction as
currency because of the ease with which individuals can convert it to cash. The demand for gold has not ebbed.
In fact, the continued emergence of new practical uses for gold has resulted in the expansion of demand.
As a result of this perpetual and sustained demand, gold has attained an inherent value. Because gold has
always been in such demand, its ongoing value has been undisputed. Few investments are buttressed by such
reliable intrinsic worth.
A Guide to Investing in Gold, gives you everything you need to get started on one the
smartest financial moves you'll ever make.
How to make a fortune with the world's most precious metal.
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Gold Mine of Information
Prospecting Links
Gold Panning
Tools and Tactics To Find Gold
Drywashers
The Secret Of How The Drywasher Works!
Ghost Towns of Gold
Stories About Lost Gold and Ghost Towns
Weather Conditions
Check the weather before going prospecting!
Gold Mine of Information Home Page
Explore all of the Gold Mine of Information
GOLD INFORMATION
Symbol-AU
Atomic number-79
Atomic weight-196.97
Melting Point-1063 Degrees C / 1945 F
Boiling Point-2600 C / 4712 F
Specific Gravity-19.2 ... (That's heavy!)
Mohs Scale of Hardness 2.5 to 3 ... (That's soft!)
Karats:
24K = 100% Pure gold
18K = 75%
14K = 58%
10K = 42%
Gold from the Ruby Mine
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