We know it’s been a little quiet around here… but there’s a reason.
We’ve been busy!
The 2026 season is underway, and so far it has been anything but easy.
A whole lot of snow and plenty of challenges—but we’re back at Nugget Creek and putting in the work.
Here’s a little sneak peek.
Same area that I've been working on.
.90 grams for the day. So for the week off one area in that pit.1.61 grams.
.90, .48. .23
Spent 6 hours on a beautiful river - found my first nugget with a host rock
Nugget was .10 !!
The first and third photo is one week apart.
This is a creek close to my house in NC.
The volume of water was incredible, the third screenshot I took today while using the Lodeline app with the elevation feature.
And it seems to use the LiDAR data to measure.
So, from the bottom of the creek or water all the way up to the sides is around 10 feet in elevation.
I'm wondering, after such an event with this amount of water moving, is it valid to check the same spots again?
Lots of bedrock exposed, but I didn't have much luck, neither the tools or time.
I live in an area that isn’t known for gold production. (Arkansas) so I usually have to fly to get close to gold producing rivers or creeks. That being said I carry in my pack a foldable sluice. It has the usual expanded metal and miners matting.
I’ve seen hand heard talk about the dream mat stuff and am wondering if any of you have used it? Is it worth the cost of the upgrade?
If so, my sluice folds out to 48”
I see it sold in 36” upgrade kits…
Should I get 36” worth of dream matt and then use something else with it?
Hey everyone! I'm new here from North Carolina.
During COVID I started to become interested in prospecting. Then I found out that NC is a major gold producing state, so of course I'm more than just interested now.
Had anyone got any tips on good places a beginner can learn to pan? I really appreciate any advice.
I’ve only been gold panning a couple times when we went to Colorado and became a bit addicted.
On the last go round I bought a foldable sluice that I was able to take on a plane. It didn’t do as well as I had wished but have recently read about a dream mat. What do I need to know about choosing the right upgrade?
Are they worth the cost?
Since I have to travel to get to gold (I live in Arkansas) I don’t think I could do any type of high banker type setup.
This is about 3 to 3.5 hours of detecting at a tried and true spot.
Minelab gold monster 2000. Killer machine on shallow bedrock gold
I can tell where previous people have prospected, and it seems very random. I found a bit of gold in the river, near the right side of the middle picture. Upstream, less than half a mile, the river cuts through bedrock, though I can't prospect there. With my novice eyes, it seems like there are so many good spots to dig, where would you start and why?