Recreational gold mining and prospecting has become a popular outdoor activity in several countries, including

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

(particularly in

Otago Otago (, ; ) is a regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island and administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local go ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

(at

Dolaucothi The Dolaucothi Gold Mines (; ) (), also known as the Ogofau Gold Mine, are ancient Roman surface and underground mines located in the valley of the River Cothi, near Pumsaint, Carmarthenshire, Wales. The gold mines are located within the ...

and in

Gwynedd Gwynedd () is a county in the north-west of Wales. It borders Anglesey across the Menai Strait to the north, Conwy, Denbighshire, and Powys to the east, Ceredigion over the Dyfi estuary to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. The ci ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

especially. Recreational mining is typically small-scale placer mining but has been challenged for environmental reasons. The disruption of historic gold placer deposits poses risks of reintroducing pollutants from past mining activities, such as mercury remaining in mine deposits and

tailings In mining, tailings or tails are the materials left over after the process of separating the valuable fraction from the uneconomic fraction (gangue) of an ore. Tailings are different from overburden, which is the waste rock or other material ...

Australia

does not prevent the private ownership of any minerals found in the land. At one time if individuals were to discover gold (or any other minerals) in their property, it would belong to the Crown, being the

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national executive government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The executive consists of the pr ...

and not to private entitlement. Today this is not so, and individuals can search and retrieve minerals with the acquisition of a miners permit that can be bought from the relevant Mining Department. Today, recreational gold mining can be carried out in several areas such as Warrego near the town of Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory, Clermont in Queensland and Echunga Goldfield in Southern Australia. Each state has its own set of rules and regulations. The largest nugget ever found was the

Welcome Stranger Welcome Stranger is the name of the largest alluvial gold nugget ever discovered. It was unearthed by Cornwall, Cornish miners John Deason and Richard Oates on 5February 1869 in Moliagul, 9 miles north-west of Dunolly, Victoria, Dunolly in Vi ...

of 2316 troy oz (74 kg).

Japan

Within Japan recreational gold

fossicking In Australia, New Zealand and Cornwall, fossicking is prospecting, especially when carried out as a recreational activity. This can be for gold, precious stones, fossils, etc. by sifting through a prospective area. In Australian English and New Z ...

can be carried out in Hokkaido, Yamanashi and Michinoku. Within Hokkaido, placer gold can be found in the Usotan River, the Peichian River, the

Yūbari River is a river in Hokkaidō, Japan. It is the namesake of Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empi ...

, and the Rekifune River. The traditional gold pan used in Japan is a rectangular concave shaped pan called the Yuri-ita (揺り板).

Indonesia

With permission granted from the Indonesian Department of Tourism and the local village chiefs, fossicking for gold can be carried out in several regions that are accessible to international tourists. However, fossicking equipment is restricted to gold pans, shovels, and metal detectors. The use of sluices, dredges, or other machinery is forbidden.

New Zealand

Seventeen areas in the South Island have been declared to be gold fossicking areas, allowing miners to fossick for gold without a permit. These areas are located in Nelson-Marlborough and the West Coast, Central Otago and South Otago. Alluvial gold can be found in low concentrations in all the fossicking areas.

United Kingdom

Gold has been mined commercially in

(see ''

Welsh gold Welsh gold is gold found in natural geological deposits in two distinct areas of Wales in the United Kingdom. It has been prized for its origin and scarcity, particularly by members of the British royal family. It is not a unique material subst ...

'') and

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. In the UK, gold prospecting can only take place with the explicit permission of the

riparian A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. In some regions, the terms riparian woodland, riparian forest, riparian buffer zone, riparian corridor, and riparian strip are used to characterize a ripar ...

owner, and any activities that cause or permit pollution of a watercourse, even re-suspended silt, could result in a criminal prosecution by the

Environment Agency The Environment Agency (EA) is a non-departmental public body, established in 1996 and sponsored by the United Kingdom government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with responsibilities relating to the protection and enha ...

. There are locations where

gold panning Gold panning, or simply ''panning'', is a form of placer mining and traditional mining that extracts gold from a placer deposit using a pan. The process is one of the simplest ways to extract gold, and is popular with geology enthusiasts espec ...

is a popular activity.

United States

Although gold deposits are popularly associated with the western US, gold has widespread occurrence across the country. In the eastern US, a zone of

lode In geology, a lode is a deposit of metalliferous ore that fills or is embedded in a fracture (or crack) in a rock formation or a vein of ore that is deposited or embedded between layers of rock. The current meaning (ore vein) dates from th ...

and placer gold deposits extends in the

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

region from

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, Tennessee,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

and

have many former gold mines and current prospecting sites. These states were the main source of US gold before the

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

gold discovery (see ''

Gold mining in the United States In the United States, gold mining has taken place continually since the discovery of gold at the Reed Gold Mine, Reed farm in North Carolina in 1799. The first documented occurrence of gold was in Virginia in 1782. Some minor gold production took ...

''). Recreational gold miners have also had success in the northeastern US. Small amounts of gold have been found in streams draining glacial deposits in the Midwest. Gold prospecting and mining activities allowed on public lands vary with the agency and the location. Gold pans and shovels are commonly allowed, but sluice boxes and suction dredges may be prohibited in some areas. There are public mining areas in many states, and prospecting may allow one to stake a

gold placer claim A placer claim is a mining claim on gravel or ground from which minerals are extracted using water. In the United States, the valuable mineral in a placer claim is almost always gold, although other nations mine placer deposits of platinum, tin, a ...

or other type of mining claim in certain areas. Some public lands have been set aside for recreational gold panning. Some private land owners also give permission for small-scale gold mining.Boston Mineral Club: ''Swift River gold panning area'' (Maine)
PDF file, retrieved 20 January 2009. The largest true California

gold nugget A gold nugget is a naturally occurring piece of Native metal, native gold. Watercourses often concentrate nuggets and finer gold in placer deposit, placers. Nuggets are recovered by placer mining, but they are also found in residual deposits wher ...

, known as the " Dogtown Nugget", weighed 54

troy pound Troy weight is a system of Physical unit, units of mass that originated in the Kingdom of England in the 15th century and is primarily used in the precious metals industry. The troy weight units are the Grain (unit), grain, the pennyweight (24 ...

s (20 kg), and was found in

Magalia, California Magalia (formerly Butte Mills and Dogtown) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Butte County, California, United States. The population was 11,310 at the 2010 census. History Originally established after the 1849 C ...

. A 195-pound troy (73 kg) mass of gold mixed with

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The Atom, atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen Tetrahedral molecular geometry, tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tet ...

was also found.

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

has many sites for the prospector, both public and private.

References

External links

TeacherTube: ''Panning for gold''
Instructional video, retrieved 20 January 2009.
World Goldpanning Association
retrieved 9 January 2009 ;Australia

retrieved 7 January 2009. ;New Zealand

retrieved 7 January 2009
Ministry of Economic Development, NZ Petroleum & Minerals: "Gold fossicking (recreational gold panning)"
retrieved 9 January 2009
PayDirt.co.nz: ''Map of public gold fossicking areas in New Zealand''
retrieved 23 April 2009{{dead link, date=February 2024 ;Switzerland

retrieved 7 January 2009 ;United States

* ttp://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/prospect2/prospectgip.html US Geological Survey: "Prospecting for gold in the United States" Harold Kirkemo, retrieved 20 January 2009.
''Encyclopedia of Alabama'': "Gold production in Alabama"
retrieved 3 January 2009.
Digital Alabama: "Gold in Alabama"
Terry W. Platt, May 28, 2020.
Illinois Geological Survey: "Gold: its occurrence in Illinois"
retrieved 3 January 2009.
Indiana Geological Survey Questions and Answers: "Where can gold be found in Indiana?"
John Hill, October 7, 1998, retrieved 3 January 2009.
Iowa Geological Survey: "Gold in Iowa", by Raymond R. Anderson
PDF, January 1999, retrieved 9 January 2009.

October 6, 2005, retrieved 9 January 2009.

December 27, 2000, retrieved 3 January 2009.

retrieved 3 January 2009. Gold mining