A modern day gold rush is underway. With gold prices at an all time high more and more gold seekers are heading into the gold mining fields of Arizona, Nevada, California, New Mexico, Alaska and many other places across the U.S. and other gold bearing areas of the earth. In the gold mining and prospecting world you can now routinely hear of men and women gold seekers spending thousands of dollars on gold mining and prospecting equipment they have never used, having no experience finding gold and buying worthless gold mining claims with hopes of striking it rich. Those who are mining the miners are in the real gold.



Recreational gold mining and prospecting has become a popular outdoor recreation in a number of countries, including New Zealand (especially in Otago), Australia, South Africa, Wales (at Dolaucothi and in Gwynedd), in Canada and in the United States especially in western states but also elsewhere. Recreational gold mining is almost entirely small-scale placer mining.

Placer gold mining is the mining of alluvial deposits (deposits of sand and gravel in modern or ancient stream beds) for minerals. This may be done by open-pit (also called open-cast mining) or by various forms of tunneling into ancient riverbeds. Excavation may be accomplished using water pressure (hydraulic mining), surface excavating equipment or tunneling equipment.

The name derives from Spanish, placer, meaning "sandbank." It refers to mining the precious metal deposits (particularly gold and gemstones) found in alluvial deposits. The metal or gemstones, having been moved by stream flow from an original source such as a vein, is typically only a minuscule portion of the total deposit. The containing material may be too loose to safely mine by tunneling. Where water under pressure is available, water under pressure may be used to mine, move, and separate the precious material from the deposit.

Gold mining and prospecting 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. The Department of Agriculture in the U.S. is now of the view that recreational gold panning and gold prospecting in national forests is permitted provided that no machinery or explosives are used, no waterways are diverted, and no permanent or semi-permanent structures are built. There are public mining areas in many states, and prospecting may allow one to stake a gold placer claim or other type of gold 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.

The Gold Prospectors Association of America (GPAA) is an organization dedicated to finding and mining gold on a small or recreational scale. It has gold claims across America and members can work the claims for a yearly fee. The club is headquartered in Temecula, California. Most, if not all GPAA activities are in the United States. The organization was founded in 1968 to preserve and promote the great heritage of the North American Prospector. The association greatly frowns upon mining methods that harm the environment, and is against anti-prospecting bureaucracy.

The beauty of this new gold rush is we get to experience it and see the successes and failures as they unfold in the gold fields. Gold Mining and prospecting equipment sales are at an all time high, advertising in gold prospecting and mining magazines is being sold at premium prices and the BLM is processing more gold claims than anytime in the last 20 years. Metal detectors costing $4,000.00 plus designed for gold are selling like gold pans in the days of the gold rush of the 1800s. This is a very exciting time to be a gold prospector.