10 rivers in Russia where you can pan for gold
Russia is a country extremely rich in alluvial gold. And to feel the spirit of a real gold rush, it is not necessary to go to Kolyma. You can try yourself as a prospector closer to home - after all, even in the rivers of the Moscow region you can find gold if you try. But whether it will pay off your efforts is unknown.
It is much better to start making a living by searching for deposits that have already been worked out in an industrial way. Even after the closure of the mines, a lot of gold remains in small areas that are not of interest to industrialists. There are plenty of such places in Russia, so grab a miner's tray and a metal detector and go on a treasure hunt. Just get a private miner's license first, in Russia they take this very seriously.
(Total 10 photos)
1. Sanarka River
In the XIX century, Sanarka was known to the whole world as the richest deposit of precious stones and minerals, with the light hand of Academician Koksharov called Russian Brazil. In places, the river soil is gold-bearing. The now abandoned Andreevsky mine reminds us that once there was much more gold here.
2. Lena river basin
The Lensky gold-bearing region is one of the richest in Russia. For more than 150 years of mining, about 1.5 thousand tons of precious ore have been mined here. But there is still a lot of gold left in the developed deposits, which is not subject to industrial production.
3. River Bodaibo
This gold-bearing river is located in the central part of the Patom Highlands. Alluvial gold in the placers of the Bodaibo basin is predominantly coarse: gold particles from 2 to 4 mm predominate. Grains larger than 8 mm are often found. There are nuggets - the largest of them were found in the placer of the upper reaches of the Bodaibo River.
4. Big Chanchik River
About ten years ago, the channel of Bolshoy Chanchik was worked out with the help of a scoop dredge. But according to geological data, large gold remains on Chanchik and there are nuggets weighing several kilograms, which can be found with the help of a good old metal detector.
5. River Bom
The boom is gold-bearing throughout its entire length. Gold in placers is large, nuggets weighing 10-30 grams are often found, less often up to 400 grams. In places, gold lies directly in the channel in crevices between shale rocks. Sometimes in such "nests" a very large amount of gold accumulates - up to one and a half kilograms.
6. Alekseevsky Creek
The gold here is large (nuggets weighing up to 1 kg), well-rounded, often fused with pieces of quartz. The largest nuggets are found at the top of the stream, under large boulders. A team of 2-3 people can easily mine more than 300 grams of gold here.
7. Jalon Creek
The most profitable mine in the Dambuka gold-bearing region. The first samples showed up to 2.5 kg of gold per ton of sand. When the rich parts of the gold-bearing layer were being developed here, its surface, after the rains that washed away the sand, shone with nuggets easily visible to the naked eye.
8. Talga River
The gold content of the Talga River basin has been known since 1893. Placers were mined mainly by pit miners. And for half a century (from 1893 to 1949), the actual production amounted to at least 2800 kg. Palm-sized nuggets can be found here to this day.
9. Stream Millionny
A rich placer was found here by accident: in 1896, a pack horse belonging to a group of alcohol-carriers (smugglers who delivered alcohol to the mines in exchange for gold) fell into a ravine. When they began to pull it out, nuggets were found at the bottom of the stream. The placer turned out to be very rich - more than 640 kg of large gold were mined in a month. When the government found out about the illegal mine, the black miners were dispersed, but since then it has not been possible to find the source of the nuggets.
10. Unaha River
The largest tributary Bryant. Unaha is a typical mountain river with a winding course and a fast current. Where its rocky bottom comes to the surface, in the crevices of the rock there are whole placers of precious metal. Gold was mined by prospectors with trays and scooped from ferries with ladles. Modern miners go here with metal detectors.
Keywords: Gold rush | Gold | Gold diggers | River | Miners