Metal detecting for gold for a living, can it work?

[firebird]

I'll be blunt, I hate my job and am tired of it. I've already tried my hand at panning/sluicing but at best I can only pull out half a gram a day after breaking my back. Dredging is illegal in California as well so is metal detecting the only possible way to make a living out of hunting for gold for an individual prospector with limited funds? Or is this strictly something that should only be done as a recreational hobby?

 

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[Rail Dawg]

If someone can make a metal detector that finds only gold and discards tin, lead, brass, iron and hot rocks then just maybe we could make a living nugget-shooting lol.

Chuck

 

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[Bodkin]

If someone can make a metal detector that finds only gold and discards tin, lead, brass, iron and hot rocks then just maybe we could make a living nugget-shooting lol.

Chuck

Sounds like THAT"S where the real $$$ is, making a real "just gold" detector. No different than the guys selling shovels to the miners back in the day. They were the ones who got rich. Hmmm...

 

[Goldwasher]

Sounds like THAT"S where the real $$$ is, making a real "just gold" detector. No different than the guys selling shovels to the miners back in the day. They were the ones who got rich. Hmmm...

However their funds came from somewhere to buy shovels.

A LOT of gold came out of the ground to create the level of commerce that existed.

Many miners did in fact get rich.

 

[ARC]

Ever heard the phrase " Dont quit your day job ".

This applies.

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

I'm thinking it doesn't really matter since the OP
hasn't responded in any way (NOT EVEN WITH LIKES! ) since Dec. 16th of last year when this question was posed.

Should someone go check on Firebird??
Maybe He/She tried and ran out of food or phone minutes?

 

[Goodyguy]

I'm thinking it doesn't really matter since the OP
hasn't responded in any way (NOT EVEN WITH LIKES! ) since Dec. 16th of last year when this question was posed.

Should someone go check on Firebird??
Maybe He/She tried and ran out of food or phone minutes?

He posted yesterday on another thread. I'ts easy to find someones activity by visiting their profile.

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

I read an article about an older "retired" guy that said he was finding 20 ounces a year on average for 5 years detecting. He said he Found 72 ounces in 1998.
His biggest piece was a 14 ounce nugget.

I don't know if that was total weight of specimen gold or estimated gold content.
It does make a difference. I suspect it was total specimen weight.

 

[Rail Dawg]

I'm thinking it doesn't really matter since the OP
hasn't responded in any way (NOT EVEN WITH LIKES! ) since Dec. 16th of last year when this question was posed.

Should someone go check on Firebird??
Maybe He/She tried and ran out of food or phone minutes?

Maybe he went “Into The Wild”

Chuck