It is said that there is roughly 20 million pounds of Gold in our oceans. Most of which we will never be able to find. Imagine if you could invent a machine the filters gold from the deapest depths of our oceans!
Did you know no matter where you go in the world there is gold? Whether it be the creek in in your backyard. The river you float in the summer, or even your family farm! GOLD IS EVERYWHERE!!!
I recently just became SCUBA certified. I seen a video of a man diving in a creek somewhere in the Rockies. He took with him his BC, airtank and a few hand tools! I treked several meters back into the woods so I figured the less weight the better!
He spent 4 hours scraping away at rocks, and fanning away dirt and found a little over 1 gram of gold in just a few short hours!!!
So I took to the woods here in and around the Hot Springs, Arkansas area and put it to the test! I was told growing up that a few small towns in the area were all built off of Gold Mining Communities. In the early 1900's they all packed up and left. With their Pre 19th century equipment, they found gold but not enough to make a nice profit from.
So I decided to take my snorkel, mask, and a few hand tools, (screw drivers, small flat bars, and a petite bottle with a conelike cap) I could use to suck the small flakes, and really, small Nuggets up in!
Now keep in mind I did not build a portable sluice box or anything of that nature but I did strike paydirt! All the gold I found was strickly found using those few tools, and of course the most important, my eyes. In the 2 days I searched I found 1.43 Grams of gold! (Roughly $70 worth)
Now I know nothing about gold mining so remember that, other then watching the T.V shows you see on the Discovery Channel and History Channel!
First thing I did was waited for a day we had ALOT of rain! I figured that would be a good idea, because here in Arkansas we have a diamond mine (Crater of Diamonds).
I learned in an introductory class to mining diamonds. The best luck and time to find them is shortly after a big rain. It breaks away at the dirt causing the heaviest of objects to fall first!
Then I thought back to all the places I hunted with my dad growing up, some of the major creeks we had to cross in freezing tempatures and of course the few I slid and fell in the snow (I remembered those the most!
I followed them all the way up to where they began. Once I found where they came out of the sides of the mountains as springs. I followed them down to the first big change in direction (somewhere they sharply changed direction to either the left or the right)! It was there I began digging town and creating a pool large enough to sink my body in! Once I had a decent pool carved out I put on my mask and snorkel, I dug some larger rocks out of the way and tossed them to the side. Dove my head down close to the bottom and after about 10 minutes of fanning dirt out of the way and I could see I found my first nugget!!!! It was only abput the size of a BB but I was the happiest I have been in a very long time! Oh I also learned that when you clear you out a little pool make sure you habe running water running throu it with a good current! It clears the murky water away faster and is way easier to see the shiny yellow metal! Sunny days also help because gold lights up like a Christmas tree when the sun hits it!
Here are a few pictures of the gold I found on my recent trips deep into the woods!