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Field CollectingGold Prospecting Video series I started

13th Feb 2012 02:59 UTCJeff Stella

Here's the first video in a series I started about gold prospecting. I know a lot of you are more into collecting other minerals, but I was hoping some of you would enjoy this! Plus I need good feed back to make my newest episode better. I would prefer to keep the blue grass music along with the video, which is why I use the ticker style for text but I think some people dont enjoy reading all that much and they would rather hear someone talk. Any thoughts on that? And what do you guys think about the video overall? Is it boring? If I keep up this format, what else would you like to see or should I do different? Any opinions appreciated, even if its to tell me how bad it is.

http://youtu.be/sGDNq-FN31c

13th Feb 2012 04:09 UTCAlfredo Petrov Manager

I liked it. Fun to watch. Brought back memories of when I used to go panning in my youth.

13th Feb 2012 05:16 UTCJim Bean 🌟

I've yet to be bitten by the gold bug, but the video was very entertaining to watch and the music was excellent! The text ticker wasn't annoying to me, voice would be ok but then you'd have to leave the music out. Keep 'em coming!

13th Feb 2012 05:31 UTCCraig Mercer

Yeah, good fun Jeff. I thought the whole thing was pretty darn classy, including the cooool music ;-)

13th Feb 2012 23:13 UTCAnonymous User

I like it. Great job!

14th Feb 2012 01:05 UTCBruce Ueno

Great!

I'm one of those collectors who has also been known to do a little prospecting from time to time, and I completely enjoyed the video. You hooked me with the bluegrass.

14th Feb 2012 03:28 UTCStephanie Martin

Fun and enjoyable to watch! Curious - is that a puffball at the base of the tree at 50 seconds? Or just a rock or other type inedible fungus?

Could not imagine any better music for this.

Well done and good luck with the series.

cheers,

stephanie :-)

14th Feb 2012 03:38 UTCBart Cannon

Bluegrass music would be far superior than the overpowering drama score used in the placer mining in Gold Rush.

But best of all would be the un-ending hum of the suction dredge and gravel on shovel.

Gold Rush is nonsensical.

They should make a true life series about one time kids like me instead of Parker Schabel. But it wouldn't be worth watching.

Mind you, I like Parker Schnabel.

Back in 1973 I worked Cunningham Creek above Barkerville British Columbia, and yanked nearly an ounce a day out of dense glacial till. Just a shovel, a rake, and a lousy old lawn mower engine driving a bronze marine water pump monitor.

But the only cursing and conflict was between me and the pump motor.

I worked from dawn to dark. Gold mining is like a crack addiction.

I stored my jar of gold in the garage of the hippie house I lived in. When the price shot up in 1980 I went back to retrieve it, but I hid it so well that I couldn't find it again. Anyone else suffered that kind of thing ?

I lost a nice nugget.along with the "color".

Bart

14th Feb 2012 11:59 UTCJohn R. Montgomery 🌟 Expert

Hi Jeff,

I enjoyed your video, but as a city guy with no experience at all in panning for gold I would have liked to have a little more info on what you were doing. ie. You mention at the beginning "no colour here"...what colour were you looking for and why?

That set up in the river where you put shovels of mud into that slanting apparatus...what's going on there?...more explanation would be helpful especially if this was meant as a kind of teaching video. But maybe that is not your purpose ???... You use the term "cons". I assume this is not a political statement:)... I'm guessing concentrations but again, your dealing with a real dumb ass here in the form of me...maybe I'm not your audience.

I think al lot of people would be interested in following your quest for gold, but I for one would like to have a little more info. Good luck.

John

15th Feb 2012 16:18 UTCGreg Kokolus

Hi;

Stylistically I like the way you shot and edited it.

However I agree with John that you need to do a setup to explain what it is you are doing and with what tools.

For the average individual it really didn't explain the basics of finding placer gold.

Don't be afraid to speak on camera. If you are planning on creating a series for sale you need to add voice overdubs.

I think adding it in postproduction is better then the breathless sound of someone walking through the woods with all the extraneous noises like leaves crunching and footfalls.

Become the expert on camera. That's what people will expect.

Also don't use abbreviated terminology. If you mean concentrate then use the whole word.

I don't know if you shot this solo, but you may want to engage a cameraman/friend to assist with the project.

A good first effort.

Best of luck in the future.

Greg Kokolus

16th Feb 2012 01:47 UTCJeff Stella

Thanks for all the feed back guys!

Stephanie: that is actually some quartz I was carrying out the day I was there last. I had full packs of gear that were already heavy, and dropped it there meaning to get it on the next trip. I often collect interesting looking/mineralized quartz as some of it in that area is Au bearing.

Bart, I know what you mean there, I have lost vials at the river and broke vials with gold in them. Now I keep them double stored, first in plastic vials, then inside an old film canister. Also I store the gold in alcohol instead of water so it cant freeze. I hope it will turn up for you one day soon! Also I do like dredging when it is hot outside, my buddy has one and I will be building one this year. I already have most of the parts just have to put it all together.

John: You are right, I was mostly aiming this video at other prospectors and I should have stepped back a bit and made it geared more for the average Joe with no experience prospecting at all. Some of the terms I use are just prospector Jargon. Color just means gold. The black slanting thing was my custom built fluid bed sluice box I made. A sluice box is just a device (usually water powered) for processing gravel down to capture the heavier elements. That sluice box has a trap where water is piped into. The gravel from the top of the sluice box passes a classification screen when it is washed into that trap chamber from the creeks current, and then the material sorts itself via specific gravity as the trap is kept fluidized with water (thus why its called a fluid bed, its a concept similar to hydraulic riffles). The heavy stuff sinks deeper into the fluidized chamber, the lighter stuff rises to the top and is carried out the back of the trap by the flowing water current. It needs about 2 inches of drop to work but can use less if the stream has good flow. Anyway you are right, cons should have been concentrates from sluicing. That is just more of the prospector Jargon that I didn't even think about.

I will definitely setup my next one with the average person in mind.

Greg: Thanks for the feedback, I see what you mean as well. I am not doing this for any sale, I just enjoy sharing the hobby with other people. I did, and have to shoot it myself because some of the areas I work the landowners will not let me bring anyone else with (but not all of my spots have that stipulation just a couple and of course I only take videos of the places if the owners don't mind). And then there's a couple of my spots I dont trust anyone else to know about, but I wouldn't video those spots anyway for fear of losing them to the general public. Oh and I do have a good buddy who has helped and taken some pics + video, but most of the time hes working so usually its just me. I kinda like the lone wolf aspect to the hobby as well. Going in alone, hiking a good way and enjoying the nature while on the hunt for the pretty metal.

7th Mar 2012 00:56 UTCJohn Dorval

I liked the video very much Jeff. Hope to see some more. I like that sluice box as well.

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