CarryTheFire
Newbie
- Dec 9, 2023
- 1
- 2
Hi,
Hope everyone is having a great day out there.
I’m originally from SC, but my family and I have spent some years living in a different State and we are now in the process of moving back. I started reading about Gold Prospecting some time ago and really wanted to get into it, but there was no naturally occurring gold in the State where we were living. Since we’re gonna be back in SC, we are ordering some basic equipment to get started (GoldHog mini stream sluice with legs, bought some pans, snuffer bottles, etc.) My 9 year old son is pretty excited about it and he really enjoys the outdoors- as well as learning about the scientific and geological aspects of the hobby. We will be focusing on placer-type deposits.
My main question here is basically about the prospecting laws in SC. I don’t know much about them and don’t want to get in any trouble on our family adventures. I understand that private property is off-limits without permission, but is there anything else specific to SC that we need to know? It also seems now that prospecting in some of the national forests has been banned.
I was looking at the Big Ten maps (goldmaps.com) to try and figure out a general starting point location, but unfortunately it seems that they are no longer in business (the email that I sent to them bounced back.) Was able to read about the Slate Belt that runs through here, along with some of the previous mining operations and we have used that information to get a feel for some areas that might have gold and black sand. The other issue that we’re worried about is accidentally trespassing on someone else’s claim (definitely want to avoid that.)
I appreciate any advice you guys might have for on the legal aspects. We have a few more trips to make back and forth out of state, but we are really looking forward to prospecting once we get settled in again here in SC.
Thanks!
Hope everyone is having a great day out there.
I’m originally from SC, but my family and I have spent some years living in a different State and we are now in the process of moving back. I started reading about Gold Prospecting some time ago and really wanted to get into it, but there was no naturally occurring gold in the State where we were living. Since we’re gonna be back in SC, we are ordering some basic equipment to get started (GoldHog mini stream sluice with legs, bought some pans, snuffer bottles, etc.) My 9 year old son is pretty excited about it and he really enjoys the outdoors- as well as learning about the scientific and geological aspects of the hobby. We will be focusing on placer-type deposits.
My main question here is basically about the prospecting laws in SC. I don’t know much about them and don’t want to get in any trouble on our family adventures. I understand that private property is off-limits without permission, but is there anything else specific to SC that we need to know? It also seems now that prospecting in some of the national forests has been banned.
I was looking at the Big Ten maps (goldmaps.com) to try and figure out a general starting point location, but unfortunately it seems that they are no longer in business (the email that I sent to them bounced back.) Was able to read about the Slate Belt that runs through here, along with some of the previous mining operations and we have used that information to get a feel for some areas that might have gold and black sand. The other issue that we’re worried about is accidentally trespassing on someone else’s claim (definitely want to avoid that.)
I appreciate any advice you guys might have for on the legal aspects. We have a few more trips to make back and forth out of state, but we are really looking forward to prospecting once we get settled in again here in SC.
Thanks!
