Gold Prospecting Guides
Expert guides to help you master gold prospecting techniques, choose the right equipment, and discover the best locations for finding gold.
Beginner's Guide to Gold Panning
Learn the fundamentals of gold panning, from choosing the right pan to mastering essential techniques that will help you find gold on your first trip.
Complete Metal Detector Buying Guide 2026
Discover how to choose the perfect metal detector for gold prospecting. Compare features, frequencies, and prices to find the best detector for your needs and budget.
Top 10 Gold Prospecting Locations in the USA
Explore the most productive gold prospecting locations across America, including public lands, BLM areas, and famous gold-bearing rivers and streams.
Sluice Box Setup and Optimization Guide
Master the art of sluice box setup for maximum gold recovery. Learn about riffles, matting, water flow, and proper positioning for different stream conditions.
Gold Prospecting Equipment Maintenance
Keep your equipment in peak condition with our comprehensive maintenance guide covering metal detectors, sluices, pans, and specialized tools.
Cleaning Gold at Home Without Chemicals
Safe, simple methods to clean creek gold for display or sale — no acids, no mercury, just water, soap, and a little patience.
How to Recover Gold from Old Electronics
Old computers, phones, and connectors contain real, recoverable gold. What's worth processing, what to expect per pound, and how recovery actually works.
How to Stake Your First Mining Claim
The real process of finding open ground, filing a federal mining claim with the BLM, and holding it — for hundreds of dollars, not thousands.
How to Identify Real Gold vs Fool's Gold
Learn the definitive tests to distinguish real gold from pyrite and other look-alikes. Includes field tests, visual identification, and at-home verification methods.
Reading Rivers: Where Gold Settles
Understand stream dynamics and learn to identify the most productive spots where gold naturally accumulates, including inside bends, bedrock cracks, and behind obstacles.
Legal Gold Prospecting: Claims, Permits & Regulations
Navigate the legal landscape of gold prospecting including mining claims, permits, public lands access, and state-specific regulations.
Dry Washing in Desert Environments
Master dry washing techniques for gold prospecting in arid climates where water is scarce. Learn equipment selection, operation, and the best desert prospecting locations.
Optimizing Metal Detector Settings for Gold
Fine-tune your metal detector for maximum gold detection. Learn about ground balance, sensitivity, discrimination, and frequency settings for different soil conditions.
Winter Gold Prospecting: Cold Weather Strategies
Discover why winter can be the best time to prospect and learn cold-weather techniques, safety tips, and equipment modifications for winter prospecting.
Processing Black Sand Concentrates
Extract fine gold from black sand concentrates using panning, magnets, blue bowls, and other concentration methods. Maximize recovery of flour gold and fines.
Ten Years Powering a Claim: Wet Cells to AGM to Lithium
Ten years of running off-grid power on gold claims — what wet lead-acid actually cost me, what AGM fixed, what LiFePO4 changed, and how to size a bank for a weekend or a season.
Aqua Regia Gold Recovery: How It Works & When Not to Use It
Aqua regia dissolves gold — that's why refiners use it and why beginners get hurt with it. How the process actually works, and the honest checklist for whether it belongs on your bench.
Stannous Chloride Testing: The 3-Minute Check That Saves Gold
One drop tells you whether a refining solution still carries gold — before you pour value down the drain. How the test works, how to read the colors, and the freshness trap.
What Size Battery Runs a Highbanker Pump? 12V Sizing Math
The pump decides your battery, not the brand ads. Real watt-hour arithmetic for an 1100 GPH highbanker pump — half-day, weekend, and week-long numbers.
Ready to Start Prospecting?
Browse our selection of quality prospecting equipment and get started on your gold hunting adventure.
About Our Gold Prospecting Guides
MinersWarehouse provides comprehensive, expert-written guides covering every aspect of gold prospecting. Whether you're a complete beginner looking to learn how to pan for gold, or an experienced prospector seeking advanced techniques for maximizing your gold recovery, our guides have you covered.
Our guides are written by experienced prospectors with decades of combined field experience. We cover everything from equipment selection and maintenance to reading streams, understanding geology, and navigating the legal landscape of gold prospecting on public lands.
All guides are regularly updated to reflect the latest 2026 techniques, equipment innovations, and regulatory changes. We're committed to helping you succeed in your gold prospecting journey with accurate, actionable information backed by real-world experience.