Customer Reviews

Gold! Gold! How and Where to Prospect for Gold (Prospecting and Treasure Hunting)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The real gem of this book for the amatuer Gold Panner/Sluicer is how to "read" a river to pick the best place to start working instead of wasting fruitless months like I did panning in the wrong places and finding lots of black sand, but no "color."

Other than that, the book is mainly a historical narrative of the Gold Rush in California with a brief introduction on one of the techniques for using a gold pan.

A good introduction to recreational gold panning and a quick read. It inspired me to buy a crevice tool and do some sniping which turned out pretty well for me the first time out! I would have liked a bit more on how to clean up black sand and or how to smelt/purify gold, but then I am a bit of a science geek.

Don't be fooled by the reviewer who (inadvertently?) gave this book zero stars. It is packed with great entry-level information on gold prospecting. Bravo Mr. Petralia!

In short, this author has many years of experience and he backs it up with common sense, keep it simple - cost saving ideas for anyone wanting to learn more about gold prospecting. Chapter VI alone, titled "Nickel Knowledge" in my opinion, made the price of this book a bargain.

The basic information on pages 94 & 95 on how to sort Gold by size and additionally explaining how the weight of Gold is always determined in "Troy Ounces" was instrumental in establishing a strong/solid base of knowledge to build onto about Gold Prospecting.

A real good entry level book with lots of good information on equipment, what to look for and how to start. A must read for all beginners!

I've been gold panning before a couple of times with my brother and, while I have found a little gold (and I do mean "little") thanks to his knowledge, I think our next outing will be more fruitful thanks to this book. The history of finding gold in California is also helpful since, as the author says, 75-85% of the gold remains undiscovered. I found the book helpful enough I'm planning on buying a copy for my brother.

Good basic book on how to get started in gold prospecting. This is a good book to start out with, and move on to more technical works if you have the inclination.

I'm actually going to take a short trip to an old gold field, so I wanted this as a reference. As stated by others, there is a lot of advertizing going on as you read through the book. I haven't felt as if it wasted my money, by any means. It remains to be seen whether it really is useful.