Mining Glossary
This glossary includes common prospecting, mining, and treasure-hunting terms used by East Bay Prospectors and the GPAA community.
Organizations
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| GPAA | Gold Prospectors Association of America |
| PLP | Public Lands for the People |
| WMA | Western Mining Association |
| AMRA | American Mining Rights Association |
Prospecting & Mining Terms
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Gold Panning | Using water and a gold pan to suspend material so gravity can separate heavier gold from lighter dirt, gravel, and sand. |
| Sluice Box | A long, narrow channel, usually made of wood or metal, placed in a creek or stream. Water carries material through the sluice while riffles trap heavier gold and allow lighter material to wash away. |
| Dredge | Mining equipment that uses water pressure, a pump, and hoses to suck dirt and gravel from a stream bed. |
| High Banking | Using a highbanker, which is a portable sluice system that uses a pump to move water to material located away from the creek or stream. Highbankers can process more material in less time than a basic sluice box. |
| Booming | Using water and dredging equipment in areas other than flowing water. |
| Tailing Pile | Gravel, dirt, and rocks left behind after mining activity, generally with no recoverable gold remaining. |
| Placer Mining | A common form of mining that recovers gold washed away from its original source and deposited in cracks, holes, sand bars, or riverbeds. Placer mining often uses pans, sluice boxes, dredges, and highbankers. |
| Classifying | Using mesh screens to separate material by size before panning or processing. Classifying helps improve gold recovery because similarly sized material is easier to process. |
| Color | Gold seen in the pan. This is what prospectors hope to find. |
| Picker | A piece of gold large enough to pick up out of the pan with your fingers. |
| Fly Poop / Flour Gold / Gold Dust | Very fine gold that looks and feels like flour or dust. |
| Flea Poop | Gold even smaller than fly poop. Usually a sign it may be time to look for a better place to dig. |
| Nugget | A piece of gold much larger than a picker. |
| Metal Detecting | Electronic prospecting using a metal detector to locate gold, silver, or other precious metals. |
| Sourdough | A highly experienced miner or prospector who has been prospecting for many years. |
| Greenhorn | A new prospector who is learning and hopes to become a sourdough. |
| Whistleberries | Beans. A humorous term popularized by Tom Massie. |
| Black Sand | Heavy dark mineral sand often found with gold. A common type is magnetite, a black iron oxide that can be picked up with a magnet. Finding black sand can indicate that heavy materials have settled in the area. |
| Leaverite | A good-looking rock or material that is actually worthless, meaning you should “leave her right” where you found it. A humorous term popularized by Tom Massie. |
| Miner’s Moss | A stringy, sponge-like matting used in sluice boxes to help trap fine gold. |
Glossary Suggestions
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