BENEFITS
PHYSICAL HEALTH
Like most outdoor pursuits there are health benefits from the exercise, increased flexibility, and general toning. One of the best things about prospecting is you go completely at your own pace, even when in a group. If the river has placed gold and other metals in the area you are prospecting, it will remain there indefinitely. You can choose to dig and pan 50 buckets in a day, or bring a cocktail, sunbathe, do a few pans and enjoy the scenery. Some days are spent exploring new areas of the river, some building temporary dams, others focusing on one particular crevice, or a small pool.
MENTAL HEALTH
Nobody goes prospecting without the hope or dream of a significant find, your true expectation is of small interesting finds. You begin each trip in a positive state, the white noise of the river, surveying areas, digging and panning all take you to another world, it's peaceful yet focused. The amount of concentration needed is enough to clear your mind of niggling thoughts and worries yet not so complicated you feel mentally drained. With the variety of techniques, like with the physical benefits, you can choose which activity is best for you on a given day. Would you like to be highly focused, or prefer to mainly let the water roll by?
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
The photo above shows all the metal recovered from one small crevice (5cm wide x 30cm deep and about 100cm long). As prospectors we follow a code; we remove any manufactured finds or toxic metals and dispose of them correctly. Although a small contribution, we are cleaning our rivers of pollution, and reducing the amount of toxic metals such as lead and mercury in our drinking water sources. The items pictured above were found only 10km from the source of the river located high up on Mt Nyon.
Yes, that is a gold 1/2 Napoleon coin found underneath all the debris. A reward from the river!