Placer Introduction and Information

While the idea of this site is to provide information on all the types of weekend prospecting, one specific segment is definitely considered the most popular and it consists is something a lot of new prospectors enjoy since it is one of the easiest forms of prospecting, which is gold panning. There are also other types of prospecting that include sluicing and dredging but these are more sophisticated types of placering.  

Placer deposits are the most essential and best places for recovering gold for those that are amateurs at the job. Native gold is not only the gold that can be found more frequently but is also easier to find, recover and take home with you. With this in mind, one of the first things you should learn about is the different type of placers that exist and where they can be located.

Main Types of Placers
Placers of all types are placed under two main classifications, which consists of dry placers and wet placers. Both types of placers can be worked on for finding gold or other heavy and precious minerals however, wet placers that have enough water for sluicing are definitely a lot easier to work with, even if they are not always necessarily the richest.

Stream Placers
Out of all the diverse kinds of placers that exist, the one to draw attention to the most is the stream placer. Stream placers have been the best source of just about all the placer gold mined in California. Stream placers have sand and gravel that takes place by the action of running water. When there are diverse times of wearing down and the stream then goes back to its normal state, frequently a heavier concentration of minerals can be found in this area.

Stream placers can be appropriately compared as a way in which nature does its own mining. The original sources of gold would most likely be in ancient stream beds through which newer stream cut through such as lodes, mountain deposits as well as other sources out of which rain and running water erodes small amounts, and then carry the material to the stream. The gold is then carried down the stream where it becomes concentrated in sand bars, underneath the rocks as well as in other locations. 

Stream placers differ a lot as far as their distribution is concerned and in types. It takes a good amount of experience to be able to really see the difference between them however, in most cases they can be divided into four main types, which are gulch and creek placers, and river and gravel plain deposits.