Think like a miner. Hmm what does that mean if you are a small scale prospector in a public access prospecting area? Well, a miner is someone working a mine. Maybe on their own claim or someone else’s. Either way, a miner thinks longer term. They know they will be back to get more of the gold and they know their mining activity is being judged by all who pass by.
- They think about how the whole deposit will be mined so they direct their tailings onto existing tailings, into a previously worked pit as backfill, or onto non-paying areas. They avoid ever putting tailings onto good paydirt.
- They leave the work area safe and well organized. This means no dangerous holes or unstable piles of material. In an active mine there will be fences and berms to enhance safety. Not an option in a public area so the casual prospector needs to leave their work area safe.
- They avoid putting trees under stress by keeping their digging outside the “drip line” of the tree (the farthest reach of the branches). Any exceptions to this need permission from the land manager.
- They manage their water wisely. This especially means planning for settling ponds and the flow of wastewater back into the water source (river, pond, etc.) Don’t cause erosion or damage to woody plants.
- Finally, they pick up trash, tools, etc. to leave the area looking clean and attractive to other visitors. Just like your neighborhood open space park, mining claims are open to people visiting for other purposes like camping, hiking and even hunting. “Leave it better than you found it” is the easy rule for any outdoors activity.
So, do you think like a miner? I hope so!
The sad reality is our permission to dig in many public access areas can be lost ever so easily. All it takes is one bad behaving prospector to annoy the locals. Then the local officials take the easy way out – a sign goes up saying “no prospecting”. Wouldn’t you just hate to be the person that loses access to a site for all of us?
Want to learn about where to dig in Colorado? My book has all the details on over 180 public access gold prospecting sites at www.findinggoldincolorado.com/buy-the-book/
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