Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. This applies in most areas of life but even more in the world of prospecting for gold. You can have years of experience and knowledge of where to look and where to dig, but there is always an element of luck! What I'm going to share with you today is a perfect example of just plain dumb luck. It happened years ago with a couple of my prospecting buddies.
I had just arrived at the "secret" spot in the Arizona desert with my fellow prospectors. It's a spot where we have found a lot of nuggets along the bedrock in several washes. So I hopped out of the SUV and grabbed all my needed gear, turned on the metal detector and immediately got a strong hit right where I was standing. After a little digging a came across this beauty right next to where we had parked!
This one is just about three grams in weight, isn't a beauty? Most of the time I don't really turn on my detector until I'm in a spot that I'm ready to work. After that all three of us went crazy detecting all around the area we had parked. I found a couple smaller nuggets but one of the guys found a five gram nugget! And it all happened from just plain good luck! We weren't even in a wash or close to bedrock is which made it weird, but I never complain when I find some gold.
You'll notice that it's a nice smooth looking nugget having been washed down an ancient river for many, many years before being left in the soil for me to find. There is literally tons of gold deposited in the ground around the world just waiting to be found, you just need to look and get lucky!
When I think back on my years of prospecting many of my best finds were all due to some good luck of searching an area I might have otherwise ignored. Many times because it was hard to get to, but that's probably why no one had looked there before! I'm definitely not in condition to do some of that stuff anymore, but it sure is a lot of fun!
Here's another on the smaller nuggets I found with the one above, this one is about 0.8 grams:
Finding nuggets is a lot more fun than panning for gold, but finding the right spot is the hard part! In Arizona there is a place called the potato patch. It earned this name because prospectors would often find gold nuggets the size of potatoes. Unfortunately those have all been pretty much picked out over the years, but who knows there may be yet another monster nugget just waiting to be found!
One thing to always keep in mind while prospecting is to be safe. Many prospector's have died while searching out their fortunes. A perfect example is the Lost Dutchman's mine. People are still searching the Superstition Mountains in Arizona for the fabled lost mine, and many have lost their lives in the process. Most people die from falling off precarious cliffs, it's not usually the wildlife. So always be careful when you're out in the wilderness!
grantordelheide.com
Weaver's Needle is supposedly a marker to help find the lost Dutchman's mine in the Superstition mountains.
If you decide to try your luck at prospecting I wish you some great luck! It's always best to find a local group of prospector's who can help you get started and will likely let you join in on one of their gold hunting trips. And always remember to search in areas where gold has been found before, if you're looking for gold where there isn't any you will most likely walk away empty handed!
I am currently considering forming a prospecting group here on Hive. If you are a prospector or are just interested in learning about it from such a group please let me know.
Thanks for taking the time to stop by and read my post. I really do appreciate it. If you have any suggestions, comments, or questions please feel free to leave them below. Thanks for stopping by and all of your support!
P.S. And since I am posting in the #freecompliments community I just wanted to remind everyone to take some time today to be kind. A little kindness can make a huge difference in someone's life. Please check out the community and consider joining us!
And my disclaimer:
Gold prospecting is a very fun hobby, but it can be expensive. It's very possible that if you invest too much into equipment it may take a long to to get a return on your investment, and some people never do. Also please remember that not all detectors and dredges are the same, always research carefully before buying them.
All photos are mine unless otherwise noted.
References:
https://www.historynet.com/ghost-town-rich-hill-arizona/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Dutchman%27s_Gold_Mine
Re-blog lottery
Now for the winner of the re-blog lottery! Today we had 30 people who re-blogged my post, thank you so much! The people who re-blogged were:
@bitandi
@blitzzzz
@bulliontools
@caleb-marvel
@esbat
@evih
@ferod23
@flaxz.alive
@florakese
@geneeverett
@henruc
@hjrrodriguez
@irvet
@jorgebgt
@kunschj
@ladymisa
@lionhunter
@maurojd
@mirroredspork
@monsterbuster
@olaf.gui
@pepetoken
@pero82
@realhattyhats
@scfather
@screamheart
@servelle
@stekene
@vrezion
@vrezyy
Voluntary daily reminder list for those who request to be on it: @ganjafarmer and @sayury
If you want to be added to the list as well just feel free to ask!
Thank you everyone! I have been working to improve my engagement and all of you have really helped out! If you have any recommendations or suggestions please feel free to let me know. I'm always looking to improve my posts.
Good luck to everyone!
And the Wheel of Names results:
Winner #1:
Winner #2:
Congratulations @stekene you have won three HSBI units!
Congratulations @florakese you have won two HSBI units!
Now for today's re-blog lottery! You just need to re-blog my post you will be placed on the Wheel of Names for a spin to possibly win up to 5 HSBI units! New twist, one winner on the first spin wins 3 HSBI, and a second spin for a chance for 2 HSBI, so two possible winners or one really lucky one could win both spins! An upvote is not required but is always greatly appreciated. Bots aren't allowed to win the prizes. Contest ends at 14:00 (2 PM) California Pacific time tomorrow. If I somehow missed your re-blog please let me know and I'll add you to the next draw.
What are HSBI units? They are units that you can purchase to sponsor someone and you in turn receive a unit as well. This way we both benefit! They give you occasional upvotes on your posts for a lifetime, and the more you accumulate the more often you receive upvotes and the bigger they can be. You can read some more here:
If you have more questions feel free to ask.
