I am not "those who know".... Why not use the metal detector on the bucket, or even the dirt before you load into the bucket?
What do you mean we don't have gold here??!! We have mountains of it. It's just black and they call it coal.
the gold is so fine it will not set off a detector. There are places in Alaska where nugget hunting can be done with a detector. The few times my buddy and I used his little sluice on a creek behind my place we found maybe 20-25 total flecks of gold, the type you have to pick up with a snuffer bottle
We were starting to on our property but we are now living in the second state to ban powered dredging. Our creeks are on bed rock, sand stone with iron veins. So how the heck am I supposed to get the gold out of the cracks and crevices on the bed rock without a vacuum?
Check out gold sniping on youtube - you can make a small suction tube from PVC fittings. It's not going to move a ton of material like a dredge but can get into crevices where the gold hides. I made one that a buddy currently has and we messed around in a creek for a few hours and came out with a couple dozen flakes.
No, it's all just private property and a very well known spot to park for people fishing and kayaking. I know 2 of the landowners in that strip, and nobody cares if we fish or kayak.
I happen to speak with a geologist last week. She grew up frequenting gold sites in WY while her father worked on oil rigs. I don't think it's legal nowdays, but 25 years ago he had the kids fill up 5 gal buckets to take back and process.
We did not make it, the dates were moved several times per the gold club and we were already booked. Not to mention someone has new big boy toy....