Historical methods
The traditional methods of prospecting involved combing through the countryside, often through creek beds and along ridgelines and hilltops, often on hands and knees looking for signs of mineralization in the outcrop. In the case of gold, all streams in an area would be panned at the appropriate trap sites looking for a show of 'colour' or gold in the river trail. Once a small occurrence or ''show'' was found, it was then necessary to intensively work the area with pick and shovel, and often via the addition of some simple machinery such as a sluice box, races and winnows, to work the loose soil and rock looking for the appropriate materials (in this case, gold). For most base metal shows, the rock would have been mined by hand and crushed on site, the ore separated from the gangue by hand. These shows were commonly short-lived, exhausted and abandoned quite soon, requiring the prospector to move onwards to the next and hopefully bigger and better show. Occasionally, the prospector would strike it rich and be joined by other prospectors to develop a larger-scale mining operation. Although these are thought of as "old" prospecting methods, these techniques are still used today, but usually coupled with more advanced techniques such as geophysical magnetic or gravity surveys. In most countries in the 19th and early 20th century, it was very unlikely that a prospector would retire rich even if he was the one who found the greatest of lodes. For instance Patrick (Paddy) Hannan, who discovered the Golden Mile,The gold rushes
In the United States and Canada, prospectors were lured by the promise of gold, silver, and other precious metals. They traveled across the mountains of theModern prospecting
Modern prospectors today rely on training, the study of geology, and prospecting technology. Knowledge of previous prospecting in an area helps in determining location of new prospective areas. Prospecting includes geological mapping, rock assay analysis, and sometimes the intuition of the prospector. Prospecting of minerals found in mobile fluids, as is often the case of lithium, adds a "temporal element" to be considered.Cabello, J. (2022)Metal detecting
Metal detectors are invaluable for gold prospectors, as they are quite effective at detecting gold nuggets within the soil down to around 1 metre (3 feet), depending on the acuity of the operator's hearing and skill. Magnetic separators may be useful in separating the magnetic fraction of a heavy mineral sand from the nonmagnetic fraction, which may assist in the panning or sieving of gold from the soil or stream.Prospecting pickaxe
Prospecting pickaxes are used to scrape atElectromagnetic prospecting
The introduction of modern gravity and magnetic surveying methods has greatly facilitated the prospecting process. Airborne gravimeters and magnetometers can collect data from vast areas and highlight anomalous geologic features. Three-dimensional inversions of audio-magnetotellurics (AMT) is used to find conductive materials up to a few kilometers into the Earth, which has been helpful to locate kimberlite pipes, as well as tungsten and copper. Another relatively new prospecting technique is using low frequency electromagnetic (EM) waves for 'sounding' into the Earth's crust. These low frequency waves will respond differently based on the material they pass through, allowing for analysts to create three-dimensional images of potential ore bodies or volcanic intrusions. This technique is used for a variety of prospecting, but can mainly be for finding conductive materials. So far these low frequency EM techniques have been proven for geothermal exploration as well as for coal bed methane analysis.Geochemical prospecting
Geochemical prospecting involves analyzing the chemical properties of rock samples, drainage sediments, soils, surface and ground waters, mineral separates, atmospheric gases and particulates, and even plants and animals. Properties such as trace element abundances are analyzed systematically to locate anomalies.See also
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