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The weekend prospector has a multitude of references and equipment to choose from. With out a doubt, the most important is research. Many fine books have been written such as James Klein's Where to find Gold in the Desert. You will also find several areas listed in this web site. The decision on the area to search will dictate the type of equipment to use. The basics for small streams are a gold pan, bucket, and a small shovel. The gold pan does not have to be "fancy" although the inclusion of built-in riffles can help to keep the heavier sand from being dumped overboard when working in the stream. Once you have the basic feel for panning, the riffles may even be a hindrance to your panning. The basic equipment for desert prospecting might include a metal detector and a dry washer. Although almost any metal detector can find gold, the better ones will have specialized circuitry to help eliminate false signals due to various types of mineralization located in most mining areas. The desert dry washer is basically a riffle box that shakes while hot air is blown up from the bottom to blow the lighter material away while the shaking moves the heavier material past the riffles hopefully trapping the very dense gold. Dry washing is very dirty and strenuous work requiring that you shovel dirt into the top screen that is very dry while standing in the accompanying dust cloud thrown up by the blower. The requirement for dry material generally means working in the warmer times of the year.
You can build your own equipment if you are on a tight budget. I have seen sluice boxes made out of either aluminum or wood (although since wood floats, you have to provide for weighting this type of box down more so than with metal boxes) that will trap gold just as well as a store-bought one. A sluice box consists of a long, narrow box (anywhere from 2 feet to >8 feet) with builtin riffles which trap the gold while the lighter material flows out the other end. With this type of box, a lot of material can be run through in a short period of time. There is usually a piece of either "miners cloth" or outdoor carpet in the bottom to trap the finer gold. The riffle themselves can be made from 1/2" aluminum angle or if using wood, 1/2" wood wall trim. The vertical edge faces backward to prevent the heavier material from passing over it trapping the gold. I have seen various types of dry washers but the most impressive used a leaf-blower gasoline engine to provide the hot air and spin a small out of balance fan on the bottom of the riffle box. This unbalanced fan provided the shaking motion to move the material. Inexpensive and light in weight to pack in to the most remote area for prospecting.
When prospecting in old mining areas, remember to watch out for open shafts. Unless you are very comfortable in pitch black holes, do not enter old mine tunnels. Believe me the operators did not leave a rich gold vein for someone else to find. The mine was abandoned for a reason and all of them are extremely dangerous. That said, if you enter one take extra flashlights, watch your head, and watch out for vertical shafts. These shafts are often located in the middle of the tunnel. Most are a straight down fall from which you probably will not survive. Also watch out for snakes inhabiting the tunnel. Once while peaking into a tunnel located on the shear side of a mountain, I looked up to see a coiled rattlesnake "watching" me. The snake was not rattling its tail so there was no warning. I nearly fell off the mountain as I jumped back on the narrow trail.
When prospecting a small stream or river area, remember that floods will leave material high on the side of the bank. There is even a specialized type of powered water pump and sluice box used for working the banks called a high-banker. If you are using a metal detector or a pan, you might have some luck by digging small amounts of material from around rocks, bushes, or trees above the stream bed. Do not dig up everything in sight! It is that type of behavior that ends up closing areas to the small miner. The modern metal detector provides one of the best and least intrusive means to locate small nuggets for the small scale miner.
While walking in mining country keep your eyes open for old claim markers known as rock cairns. These small piles of rocks are what the old miners used to mark the corners of their claims. If no one has checked them out since they were put up, you may find the original claim marker inside the pile of rocks. Usually it was stored in an old tobacco can but I did find one that was rolled up inside of an old bottle. This was one of my more interesting finds.
For basic information on gold prospecting in the desert, James Klein's book Where to find Gold in the Desert is one of the best.
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