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Friday, June 3, 2011

The John Angus Carter School for Gold Prospectors

A school for gold prospectors and mineral collectors by John Angus Carter, geologist, in Barkhamsted, CT   John is also the author of the two popular blogs about gold mining & prospecting as well as gems & gemstones. He has had extensive experience as a prospector in the western United States and Canada. He is also a certified Environmental Analyst, Grades I, II and III in the State of Connecticut where he operated an environmental consulting firm for more then twenty years.

He has also been a guest lecturer at the New School in NY City.  Has presented courses in gemstone identification at Northwestern Connecticut Community College in addition as a guest speaker at the meetings of several service clubs like the Lions and the Rotary Club 



Classes will be held every day except Sunday weather permitting all year around.  If there is inclement weather the class will be moved indoors.

The class will last about four hours, and will cover the following subject matter:

We have changed the way the course is taught in such a way as to customize it for the students so we try not to cover ground the student knows.  This is so we can present the student with material he is unfamiliar with and will find useful.

Part I. Placer mining

  • How to make sense out of flowing water with a balloon on a string
  • How to find gold in a stream
  • The equipment needed for placer mining
  • How to use a gold pan
  • Where to look for gold on beaches and streams
  • How to find gemstones in stream gravel

Part II. Hardrock Prospecting
  • The different kinds of rocks you are likely to encounter while prospecting
  • How to tell a fault zone
  • How to tell a fold zone
  • How to recognize a pegmatite
  • How to tell the different types of pegmatites
  • How to recognize different types of metamorphic rock
  • How to recognize different types of sedimentary rock

Part III. Equipment
The basic equipment you will need to be a prospector.

Price: $100.00 per person.
Please pay in cash!

You can reach us at:
11 Meeting House Rd.
Suite 21a
Barkhamsted, CT 06063

Phone:              860-469-4804
Cell:                 860-605-0475
G-mail              geotekllc@gmail.com

Why Barkhamsted?


Barkhamsted, Connecticut has some of the most complicated geology within a twenty mile radius of anyplace in North America that closely resembles the gold bearing rocks in other places like Gilpin County in Colorado the site of several important gold mines.  It is a good area where to learn the geology of prospecting, and has actually acted as a classroom for generations of geologists.

Barkhamsted and the surrounding town contain many rivers and streams where you can learn the art of gold panning and the characteristics of gold bearing rivers and streams.  Gold is sparse in this area, but it is a good place to learn the art of prospecting in any case.  There have been gemstones discovered in the rocks of the area including aquamarine, heliodor, garnet, kayanite and sapphire. Gold isn't the only mineral found in the Earth having worth!