Prospecting Kit for Italy & kyrke
Hello
kyrke,
My my, what an interesting adventure you've setup for yourself! What do you mean by a prospectors kit? What type of prospecting? I know you said gold, raw gold that is found in a mountain or riverbed?
If we are talking about the mineral gold as found in the ground and possibly as a placer deposit along a river or as "lode gold" as in a vein of gold in rock then those are basically two different kits, quite different in fact.
Okay, so the area is known for gold veins and high flowing rivers and people pan for gold there even today. Sounds like California though I'd guess the wine is less expensive there than here and a good Italian meal is easier to find. Also, just like the rest of Europe, there is a great deal of ancient history in the area. Please check the rules for prospecting in the area so you are not in a preserve or anywhere else you should not be prospecting.
Okay so a kit for placer prospecting (gold carried by water): topographic maps of the area you intend to go into, a gold pan usually with riffles and usually made of plastic and about a 35.5 cm diameter at the top (also check out "Batpan" on the internet for a unique gold pan especially useful if there is a lot of magnetic black sand), a digging tool typically a small shovel (ex-military entrenching shovel) or double headed garden adze with an all metal handle, a sample sifter for separating dirt from rocks (classifying is another term for this), a small magnet, a small magnifying lens, a crack scraping tool, a cheap 2.5 cm wide cheap paint brush, a rectangular cotton rag ~ 60 cm square, a pry bar about 18” long and that for the most part should do except of course for a first aid kit, water container and or a water filter for cleaning river water with possibly a pre-filter to remove glacial silt so the main filter lasts longer, solid hiking boots, a small pack for carrying your equipment (big enough for overnight gear if you will be out for a few days at a time during your month long vacation), a wide brimmed hat to keep the hot sun from your head an possibly neck, loose suitable hiking clothing not tight fashion clothes, if bugs are in the area then a mosquito repellent and a head net if they are really bad, sun screen lotion and leather work gloves.
Are you familiar with hiking in the mountains and being able to get back? Having a compass or a GPS unit with you and knowing how to use them will be important. Of course this all depends on how remote of an area you are going to go into. I prospect in true wilderness areas where I do not see other human beings for two weeks or more so at times I even carry a static line for getting into and out of side canyons. If you are not familiar with really rough country then I would not go too far into it. Be sure others know where you will be going to and stay with the hiking plan you leave them with! Being out in the wilderness is thrilling or chilling depending on how prepared a person is for the experience and even then the most experienced person can have life threatening difficulties.
Okay, I will throw in a few pictures of types of equipment pieces and then go find something to do for the evening. I hope your trip/adventure is a great one!………………..63bkpkr
Green gold pan with riffles @ 35.5 cm dia., Black Pyramid gold pan(Batpan) @ 33 cm per side, silver colored classifier (dirt sifter) fits into the black gold pan, folding shovel extended is 39.5 cm in length (folded and collapsed = 22.2 cm in length), garden adze = 36.8 cm in length by 21.5 cm wide at the head. I carry the shovel, the black batpan and its triangular classifier. I also carry other items that add way to much weight and bulk to my pack for a two week stay in the mountains so I suggest you take minimal equipment to learn with.
There are some very good panning videos on YouTube that will get you started and likely you will see videos of someone scraping a crack with either a screwdriver or a hand made metal wand, either one works though the wand can be made as long as the maker wants to go deep into the cracks in rocks/between rocks (hand made scraper has a point on one end and a flat spoon on the other).
Other types of sifters: tuna fish can with 1/4" mesh pop-rivited into it, wire mesh drawer organizer, triangular one for the black gold pan
2010's gold I prospected on a U.S. half dollar
Me at my camp somewhere in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, waterfall and pool to the left, avalanche hillside on the right, very rugged country with a hard rock mine uphill to the left.
Fun Stuff!!
