>>2351228When you asked if modern methods were superior, and I said yes, this is more what I meant. This is a picture of a gold mine in my state, actually.
As for combing through old claims and sites... there's nothing to stop you from doing it, other than health and safety risks. Sometimes there's gold there, sometimes there isn't. Combing through old tailing piles isn't exactly an uncommon activity. As for going down into a shaft and continuing to mine it, or mining an area that's already been mined for the last hundred years... look up Pamlico Nevada. It's an example of exactly what you are talking about. Now, there are laws that come into play, with mineral rights and land ownership. If you found placer gold just sitting on the ground, and you wanted to pocket it, you would be wise to not say anything about where it came from. If you wanted to mine for yourself, you would need to stake a claim. Which people do. I've encountered plenty of claims out and about. What mostly stops people would be effort I guess. Everybody wants to own gold. Nobody wants to sluice for ten hours, or drag ore to your sluice boxes all day.
>getting richYou could, but it's more of a hobby. I do it just because I think hunting for gold is unusual and interesting. One of the guys I go with is fully funded by his finds though.
