Gold is a precious metal that has been sought after for centuries. It is found in many places around the world, but some areas are more likely to yield gold than others. Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming are some of the most popular places to look for gold. Gold nuggets are formed by geological processes that take time to build up.
Therefore, they are not found everywhere. Instead, they are more likely to be found in areas where thick gold deposits have been discovered in the past. The next generation of metal detectors arrived in the 1970s with transmission-receiver technology. This type of detector used a concentric double coil with a transmitter coil on the outside and a receiver coil in the middle.
It worked like a radar by sending a pulse to the ground and reading the resulting bounce. When a metal object interfered with the rebound, it gave a signal to dig. The 1990s saw the arrival of Very Low Frequency (VLF) technology. Most current detectors are of this type, except those with specialized pulse induction.
VLF machines do not send a radar pulse but a constant signal in the shape of a truncated cone. When this curtain is disturbed by a conductive metal object, it generates an audible signal. Below are two findings from a VLF detector with a four-inch coil: a silver conch and an unmarked hand-cast gold ring. Both were found on the same day about ten feet away from each other.
Also included are some miscellaneous finds from some ancient sites: a dog license issued by Yuma, AZ in 1899; an Elks Club Bazaar token from 1913; and a souvenir pin from the 1939 World's Fair in New York City. All rivers contain gold but some contain so little that it would take years of straining and sifting to find even one small flake. The hobbyist seeker will not be able to determine if gold is contained within a rock outcrop. Gold can be found on almost every continent and exists in trace quantities in seawater and in the human body. Gold exists in extremely dilute concentrations in both freshwater and seawater and is therefore technically present in all rivers. However, its concentration is very small and difficult to detect.
In some rivers of the world - particularly in areas of Russia and the western United States - significant gold flakes and deposits can be found and extracted with advanced technology for profit. Yes, gold can be found in rivers and streams but not usually in large nuggets as seen in movies. Instead, it is usually found in small quantities either as flakes or grains. Kolar's gold deposits have been closed for several years due to declining investment returns but this area of India is still believed to contain very rich gold deposits. If you want to start digging for gold yourself then you should look for state or district reports on where gold has been found if you live in an area where at least some gold has been mined. You should also take note of which types of gold are getting more attention than others. Prospecting for gold has led people to search all over the world for gold under rocks, within mountains and along rivers. In the United States, western and Alaskan streams and rivers have a reputation for gold deposits that date back to the California Gold Rush of the 1850s. Another technique used when water is scarce is panning which involves swirling sediment-filled water around in a pan until heavier particles settle at the bottom.
This technique is not effective when it comes to trapping tiny gold but can be used to recover larger pieces or nuggets. It could be said that gold adheres to existing gold particles in a process similar to that which salt or sugar dissolved in water crystallizes when a nail is placed in the solution. Suction dredges can process large amounts of material and there are stories of gold miners who can recover ounces of gold every day using one by themselves. Seawater contains even more dilute concentrations of gold measured in parts per trillion and according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the world's oceans contain 20 million tons of diluted gold. South Africa has the highest concentration of gold with Johannesburg built on top of the largest deposit in the world. Low-frequency machines favor larger objects such as nuggets and iron while higher frequencies are better for small finds such as flakes or jewelry pieces. You don't need to take a week off work to search dry washes for nuggets when there could be gold buried just meters away from your living room couch if you live in an older populated area.
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