You know the old saying "Don't leave gold to find gold". But I have done this many times with the thought that I can always go back to the ground that was producing. I like to prospect and see new areas! The excitement of finding a new patch is what always drove me on. These searches were primarily in AZ. Some things I always look for... From a distance, look for areas of red soil that stand out from the surrounding area. These might be an indicator of oxidized iron rich and hopefully gold bearing soils. Hunt any saddles on hills that may have caught gold from eroding veins. Always look underfoot for areas of the most mix of rock types, quartz, hot rocks, vuggy, rotten iron stained quartz, granite, etc. These groupings of mixed media has paid off more than you can imagine. They also cause a metal detector the most grief! If trekking through areas of exposed schist look for any tiny veins of quartz. The same goes for granite outcroppings with quartz contact zones. Look for any signs of old workings in washes. Mainly rocks stacked along sides of small washes. These prospects (my favorite) often contain gold nuggets mixed in with the over burden shoveled out of the wash. In the haste for the old prospectors to get to bedrock, many nuggets were shoveled out behind the wall of rocks. Tear the walls down and start hunting. Beware of snakes, scorpions, and black widows all hiding out in the cavities of the walls. I like tarantulas so I won't mention them. LOL Don't forget to rake down any OLD dry wash piles. Preferably those with an abundance of vegetative growth, another favorite!
Good luck!
