Level: 1
Category: Recreation
Year: 2008

Gold Prospecting

  1. Create a list of equipment used for gold panning. Describe each item and tell what it is used for.
  2. Define the following:
    1. Pay dirt
    2. Quartz
    3. Pyrite
    4. Blond sands
    5. Black sands
    6. Placer
    7. Lode
    8. Nugget
    9. Flake
    10. Dust
    11. Specific gravity
    12. Wet and Dry panning
    13. Mercury (historical use) DO NOT USE TODAY
    14. Troy pound
    15. Troy ounce
    16. Pennyweight (dwt)
    17. Grain
    18. Gold fever
  3. What are the following identifying characteristics of gold:
    1. Specific gravity
    2. Colour of streak
    3. Colour
  4. Where are some good places on a river or stream to look for gold?
  5. Make a timeline containing at least 15 items about the history of gold prospecting from 1600 until the present day, including the following rushes: California Gold Rush, Klondike/Yukon Gold Rush, Witwatersrand Gold Rush, and the Victorian Gold Rush.
  6. Learn about gold panning by doing one of the following:
    1. Do some gold panning. (preferred)
    2. Practice panning using flattened lead or tungsten shot mixed with sand (preferably from a river bank).
  7. Look up the following verses in the Bible and discuss them in relation to prospecting for gold:
    1. Matthew 13:44-46
    2. Matthew 6:19-21