Principles of Lode Prospecting

Searching for lodes goes along with a lot of the general rules of placer prospecting however, due to the fact that this type of search is done on dry terrain, there are a few other things you will need to keep in mind.

There are three different parts that lode searching can be split into and these include: a) making a decision on the localized area or beginning point; b) doing a tracking search; c) and finally doing the lode search or source search.

The first thing you will need to do is to come to a decision on the localized area. After this has been accomplished the prospector will then start to seek for indications or signals that there are indeed precious metals such as gold in this area.

Making on decision on the localized area can be done in a few different ways. On some occasions the area that has been chosen will be a stream that has been a good area for placering for example. In some occasions a gold dredging operation will result in other valuable minerals such as precious stones or platinum and the prospector will want to find the original source of this find and when this occurs, the stream then turns into the beginning point.

There are also other opportunities, although it is not all that common, in where the trip will be made to a localized area because it was believed that there should be valuable minerals in this certain area. This supposition might have been obtained by a study that was made that involved source books, geology maps, past mining history of the area etc.

In the second type of situation the prospector does not have any sort of beginning point and will need to look for the first indication that there are valuable minerals or gold in a certain area. The most important thing to keep in mind in this kind of first search is to search at the lower elevations of the drainage system where there may be valuable minerals since this is normally where they are expected to be located in.

Another way a localized area can be found is the one that usually causes the most amounts of excitement as well as the most amount of frustration. This one usually happens when the other type of searches have been ruled out and the prospector has been able to find a rich piece of float. In some cases it is the discovery of the prospector himself however in most cases another person finds it and informs it to another person. The main thing here is to find the exact location where the float was found. It does not help at all when things are generalized and the description of that it was located “near the boulder mine” is not a good way of being able to find it; actually you simply will not find it this way. If you have found out about an area where a rich float has been found you will need to try to get the exact location or area. The best way is to go to the actual place with the person that found the rich float to begin with. If the person is not able to go with you, you will need to try to have him point out where the location is as accurately as possible on a topographical map. The place that has been indicated will be your beginning point.