This years Hobby!
GOLD! There Be Gold everywhere!
This years hobby for me is Gold Prospecting. As it turns out (I've known for 14 years, just haven't acted on it yet) we live smack dab in the middle of the Gold/Pyrite belt of Virginia. Within about a 2 mile radius, there are approximately 18 or so abandoned mines from the 1800-1900s. There is even an old one about 1/2 mile up the creek that runs through the backside of our property, so I'm hoping there is plenty of gold flakes and nuggets for me to find. The land here is rich in red clay and TONS (and I do mean TONS and TONS) of quartz. There are even pieces of quartz in our yard and woods the size of some small cars. After sitting and watching the shows Gold Rush, Bering Sea Gold,and many other related gold mining shows, I've gotten the itch to go out and see if we have some
on our land.
During the winter, I bought some gold pans, Classifiers (screens to filter out larger rocks), and some PAY DIRT from various sources online. With this, I practiced and improved my panning techniques and am much more confident in catching real gold.
This past Fathers Day, we took a trip down to Marion, NC to "Lucky Strike Gold Mine and Campground" and rented a high-banker and load of dirt to process. We also panned through some of their "salted" (gold added) pay dirt and bought a few bags to bring home.
I'm hoping to join our local Gold Prospector club, and keep on learning and improving my skills. It turns out they have a local claim which is just about 4 miles from my house, and members are free to come out and work it for gold.
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