Gold Prospecting

by Nick Coons
Feb 16, 2005

Prospecting started in Arizona

Arizona	(air-i'-ZON-u')
The State of Arizona comprises the extreme south-western portion of the United States. It is bounded on the north by Utah, on the east by New Mexico, on the south by Mexico, and on the west by California and Nevada.

on a widespread during the Gold Rush in the mid-1800s, as people raced out to the southwest looking to strike it rich. The trend of individuals heading for the hills and looking for gold individually has declined tremendously since then and large businesses have taken over mining. But there are still those that like to head out looking for gold, sometimes using today's technology.

Most people that go out on a regular basis on are the regulars, and they enjoy this hobby for the collecting. It's such a great discovery to find rocks and minerals with gold veins running through them. The feeling that you get from making such a find is wonderful in both that you've found something unique and likely very valuable.

Or so I hear, since I haven't actually gone out searching on my own yet. I'm actually planning on heading out this weekend to the Superstition Mountains

Superstition Mountains	(soo-pe'r-STI'-shu'n MAWN-ti'n)
A large mountain range making up the eastern edge of the Phoenix valley.

. It'll be nice after all of this rain we've had, small washes should be flowing, and this is known to expose some of the minerals. I'll be equipped with a metal detector and some other gear working to find small flakes in the water and quartz with gold deposits all the way on up to nuggets -- And I'm not talking about the ones made out of chicken.

This will be an interesting experience, and help to determine if this is something I'll be doing more often, and if it's a hobby that is going to grow on me.