Gold prospecting books by Old Col
Stop washing your gold back into the creek.
Plain-English books from Old Col for people new to gold prospecting. Stop making the beginner mistakes and give yourself the best odds the ground allows.
See real pages from the books first- Instant PDF download. You pay once, no subscription.
- Reads well on a phone or tablet, and prints out.
- Full refund if it didn't help you.
Six mistakes that cost beginners their gold
The Starter Kit shows you how to fix each one. The page numbers are where it's covered in the book.
Pouring the pan off
Tip the dirt over the edge and the gold goes with it.
Col's fix: riffles away from you, and let the water wash the top off. Page 14
Skipping the shake
Swirl too early and the gold never gets down to the bottom.
Col's fix: shake it level, under the water, before you tilt. Page 13
Digging the outside of the bend
The fast water there carries the gold straight past.
Col's fix: work the inside of the bend and the head of the gravel bar. Pages 6 and 7
Stopping at false bedrock
A hard, packed layer can look like the bottom when it isn't.
Col's fix: test on it, then test under it. Page 8
Tipping out the black sand
The finest gold hides in that heavy dark sand at the end.
Col's fix: keep it and clean it up properly. Page 20
Falling for fool's gold
Mica and pyrite shine like gold in the pan.
Col's fix: five free tests tell them apart. Pages 17 and 18
Real pages from the books
Tap a page to see it bigger. On a phone you can pinch to zoom in.
Where the gold drops in a creek
A taste of chapter 1. This is a creek bend seen from above. Gold travels with the water and drops out wherever the water slows down.
- Inside of the bend. The slow water is on the inside, and that's where gold drops.
- Head of the gravel bar. That's the upstream end of the bar, where the water first loses its push.
- Behind a big boulder. Look in the calm water just downstream of a boulder that sits in the gold's path.
"Everything in this game comes back to one fact. Gold is heavy."Old Col, Starter Kit, page 6
Three books, one job each
114 pages in all, in 29 short chapters. Each book is a PDF with 7 by 10 inch pages.
Book 1
Old Col's Gold Starter Kit
The Old-Timers' Way to Your First Gold. 38 pages. Start here if you're new.
- p. 6Why gold drops on the inside of a bend, and why you picture the creek in flood
- p. 8False bedrock: the hard layer that makes people stop digging too early
- p. 10How many specks make a spot worth working (the old hands' rule of thumb)
- p. 13The step nearly everybody skips: shake it level, under water
- p. 14Riffles away from you, and why you never pour the pan off
- p. 15When the pan fights you: mica, fool's gold, floating gold, clay balls
- p. 17Five free tests to tell real gold from fool's gold
- p. 20The black sand you've been tipping out
- p. 20One drop of detergent that stops fine gold floating away
- p. 28The beginner kit checklist: what to buy, what to skip, what to borrow
- p. 33The backyard lead drill, with a score table and a "where did I lose it" finder
Book 2
Reading the Ground
Where the Old-Timers Found Gold, and Where They Left It. 46 pages.
Show the 12 things insideHide the list
- p. 6Follow the broken rock uphill to where it came from
- p. 7The strip of dry grass that gives a buried reef away (from an 1897 prospecting handbook)
- p. 10Why the ugly, rusty rock beats the pretty white quartz
- p. 12Crush and pan a rock sample the old way, safely
- p. 14Why the old-timers left gold behind, and how to read their old workings
- p. 18Which cracks in bedrock catch gold, and why you clean them right to the bottom
- p. 22The false floor in a dry creek: clay and caliche
- p. 26The dryblowing mistake nobody tells you about (running it empty)
- p. 30After a flood: dig through the new gravel, don't just skim it
- p. 33Swing low, slow and flat, and what to do with hot rocks
- p. 36The after-the-beep routine that stops you losing nuggets you've already found
- p. 41The kitchen-scale test for fake nuggets
Book 3
Stay Legal & Safe, Wherever You Pan
Finding the Rules Where You Live, and Coming Home Safe. 30 pages, with official links for the US, Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand.
Show the 10 things insideHide the list
- p. 6Who owns the ground, and the mining claim you can't see from the creek
- p. 8The 10 questions to ask the land office before you go
- p. 10The rules that turn up nearly everywhere: hand tools, limits, filling holes
- p. 11Leave the history where it lies (heritage rules)
- p. 13Heat exhaustion or heat stroke: the signs and what to do
- p. 14Why snake bite first aid is different in different countries
- p. 14Old mine shafts: stay out, stay alive
- p. 16What to carry, and the trip plan to leave at home
- p. 18US quick reference: BLM land, National Forests, national parks, with official links
- p. 21Canada (BC and Yukon), the UK, Australia and New Zealand, each with official links
A wasted weekend costs more than the book
Think about what a first trip out costs you:
- Fuel to get out to gold country and back, often a full tank or more.
- A pan kit and a few tools, used the wrong way.
- For some, a metal detector bought before they know how gold behaves. The Starter Kit says hire one first. Top-end gold detectors run about US$7,000 to US$9,500.
- Two days of your time, and a sore back.
Come home with an empty pan because of a mistake you could have fixed, and all of that is gone. The Starter Kit is US$27, paid once. Read it the night before and spend the weekend learning instead of guessing. It can't put gold in the creek, but it stops you making the mistakes that waste the trip.
These are rough numbers, and yours will differ. Fuel depends on your car and how far you drive, and you'll want a pan whether you buy the book or not. What changes is whether you use it well.
Start with one, or get all three
The Starter Kit
US$27 paid once
- Old Col's Gold Starter Kit, 38 pages
- Panning, reading a creek, and the five gold tests
- The beginner kit checklist and the backyard panning drill
Best value
All 3 books
US$57 paid once
US$81 if you bought them one at a time
- Old Col's Gold Starter Kit, 38 pages
- Reading the Ground, 46 pages
- Stay Legal & Safe, Wherever You Pan, 30 pages
Instant PDF download. Full refund if it didn't help you.
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What happens when you pay
- You pay through Whop. Whop is the checkout company we use for downloads.
- Your download link comes up on screen as soon as you've paid. It takes about 30 seconds.
- The link is in your email too, so you can open the books again later on your phone or your computer.
Nothing gets posted to you, and there's no subscription. You pay once.
Col's straight‑up guarantee
Read it, get out there once. If it didn't help you, email for a full refund, no questions.
Reply to your receipt email, or write to the address at the bottom of this page.
What buyers said
Questions people ask
Who is it for?
Complete beginners, and people who've tried panning and come home with nothing. The Starter Kit starts from zero and explains every prospecting word the first time it turns up. Reading the Ground is for when you want to read the ground like the old-timers. Stay Legal & Safe is for anyone who wants to be sure they're allowed where they're going, and to come home safe.
Will this help me find gold?
It'll teach you where to look and how to stop losing what's already in your pan. No book can promise you gold, and the books say so on the first pages. The creek decides that.
How do I get the books?
Nothing comes in the mail. They're PDFs. Straight after you pay, your download link comes up on screen, and it's in your email too. The Starter Kit is 38 pages, Reading the Ground is 46 and Stay Legal & Safe is 30. They read well on a phone or tablet (you can pinch to make the words bigger), and the checklists print out.
I'm not good with computers. Will I manage?
If you can open a link in an email, you can read these books. If you get stuck, or you lose the file later, email us at the address at the bottom of this page and we'll help you open it or send it again.
Do I need a metal detector?
No. The Starter Kit says start with a pan, not a detector. Panning, testing a creek and cleaning cracks only need a pan, a shovel and a few hand tools. Reading the Ground covers detecting for when you're ready, and the Starter Kit says to hire a detector before you buy one.
Does it work where I live?
Yes. How gold behaves in a creek, how to pan, how to read the ground and how to detect are the same everywhere. For the law, Stay Legal & Safe shows you how to find the rules where you live, with official links for the US, Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand. One heads-up for UK readers: the Crown owns the gold there and doesn't let hobby panners keep it. The book explains.
Is Stay Legal & Safe legal advice?
No. It shows you how to find the rules, and what the official pages said when they were checked. Rules change, so always check the official page for where you'll be before you go.
Is Old Col a real person?
No. Old Col is an AI character created by JS Media, and every book says so on the title page. The advice is real. Every tip was checked against written sources: government geology surveys, land and mining departments, the makers' own manuals, and long-time prospectors and clubs. The sources are listed at the back of each book.
Is it a subscription?
No. You pay once and the PDFs are yours.
What if it doesn't help me?
Read it, get out there once. If it didn't help you, email for a full refund, no questions.
One last thing, mate
Gold has been sitting in those creeks a long time, and it will still be there after you've learned to pan properly. Check it's legal before you dig, and take water and a mate. When you're done, leave the ground the way you found it.
Old Col's Gold Tips
Instant PDF download. Full refund if it didn't help you.