A waste of time?

[Cat Jockey]

Wakey, Wakey ...

 

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[onfire]

Maybe a waste of time to think you'll make a living for a year detecting. The experience meeting people is priceless there are a lot of people who will help you with the history (don't believe all the towns are detected out remember that disk on the end of your stick is max 12 in around it only covers a small area I've hunted places were 100's of other people have and still come up with things. Unless your equipped with the latest minelab or other big buck detectors and have many years of research it's only a hobby not a job, anyway give it a wrill keep some gas money in a buried stash so you can get back home (just kidding)

 

[jmoller99]

In looking for old Ghost towns, keep in mind that when the steam railroads went in, they put up a water tank every 10 to 15 miles, and some sort of town usually was established around it. Get some old train maps and start looking for towns in that are no longer on the current maps and see if you can find out more about the ones that are missing (you might not find much information, but any sort of population or use of the site will give you an idea which might be more interesting).

This type of ghost town is often neglected by Detectorists, because people don't think about them. The nice thing is they are all over the west, along the old railroad lines, and usually not that hard to find.

 

[Chug And Red]

When you get out this way PM me and I will take you to the gold or silver park to see what you can scrape up after I'm done with them!!!! Just remember no park is hunted out But I'm giving it my best!!!! HH Chug

 

[BuffaloBob]

Luck happens. But don't plan on it. First I would detect bus stops, playgrounds etc for dropped change. At least get you some gas or lunch money. Then check out the older sites. Good luck to you! Hope it works out.
BB

 

[Tuberale]

Like anything else, how you do will depend on what you already know. There's more gold in the West now than has already been taken out, and if you've got the prospecting skills you'll probably do fine.

Now for the bad news: if you haven't done some of what you plan on doing already, you're in for some rough times I think.

That said, I wish you well. Chug and Red will show you a good time in Vancouver.

But if you really want some good gold, be sure to hit the extreme southwestern corner of Oregon along the coast: good gold and platinum in black sand deposits there. If you already own a dredge that you can run in salt water through, that site alone may pay for your trip. In the 1930's during the Depression this area was worked extensively for gold in an area that the miner's cursed soundly because the platinum (then worth $20/ounce) would clog their riffles, allowing the fine gold to flow out the back. Southern Oregon also had the only hard-rock platinum mine in the United States. Be sure to take a strong magnet with you to this area, to separate out the ilmenite, magnetite and monzanite from the black sand concentrates. It's hard work. But the way metal prices are going, even those minerals may start to have some economic consequences for someone salting a gold-panning display at county fairs or local markets.

There is a way to make a living at this: explore the possibilities!