Sunday, March 25, 2012

Father Daughter Time


I have been hoping for a hobby that I can share with my daughters. Prospecting has no appeal to my older, Ava, but Halle loves it. She has no problem getting wet or dirty as long as she can do it in a dress. It turns out Halle has a very good eye for the gold in the pan. I would love to say we went out and dug this pay dirt ourselves, but we bought it from a feller in Alaska. He told me he was going to throw in some gems and fossils to the "unsalted concentrates" to make it more interesting for the girls. Ava, wasn't even remotely interested in even thinking about trying a pan. Halle was more than glad to pan hers for her.


She went right for the sapphires in the pan. Not sure they are gem quality, but hey, it is always fun finding something shiny.


We worked the pay dirt down. I know this looks like a fast process on TV, but I am going to tell you, it takes a good amount of time to work it down.


And this is what we got out of one pound of dirt. Nice size flakes, but only about enough to cover 1/10th the outlay. The time spent together, well worth the cost.


Here are the gem stones and fossils also.



Now, if you want value, join the Gold Prospectors Association of America. When you join, they send you some pay dirt to pan. The grains are small, but oddly it would pay about the same amount as the membership cost you. Damn,I love a kick back!