Plain answers to the questions every stream prospector runs into: where gold settles, how to read a valley, how to pan, what to carry and what to ignore. No promises, no sales talk — the physics and the habits that come from it.
What placer gold is, why it ends up in streams, and how a first trip should look.
The physics of slowing water, and the places in a stream where heavy grains stop.
How to read a valley from elevation, contours and satellite imagery before you go.
The motion, the mistakes, and how to keep fine gold in the pan.
What a stream prospector actually needs, from the starter kit to what to leave at home.
The minerals and signs that travel with gold, and the ones that only look like it.
Where gold comes from, how it is freed from rock, and why some valleys carry it and others do not.
When to go, when not to, and how to come home from every trip.
The general principles that apply everywhere. The specific rules are local and are yours to learn.
What the map does, what the score means, and how to use it to plan a trip.
The beliefs that waste days, and the errors that empty pans.
GOLDONGO scores entire stream networks for the trap geometry this guide describes — slope breaks, inside bends, junctions and bedrock. Pick your region and see where it stands.
This guide is general education, not advice for a specific place. A score, a map or a sentence here is not a licence to dig: the rules for prospecting, land access and protected areas differ from place to place — learn the ones that apply where you are before you go.