Prospectors Cache

10/25/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19aXr3tz1J/

Welcome to the Prospectors Cache. I'm Tom Ashworth, and this is whe...

10/06/2026

Once you can run a gold pan with confidence, the next tool to learn is the sluice box. It has no moving parts, but set it up wrong and it'll wash your gold right back into the creek, and you may never know it happened.

So I put together a beginner's guide on how to use a sluice box: setup, angle, water flow, and cleanup.

A few things from the guide:

Start around 3/4 to 1 inch of drop per foot, then tune it to the water. More water means less slope, less water means more slope.
Feed it slowly. If you can't see the top crest of every riffle, you're feeding too fast.
When you clean up, rinse under the matting too. Gold works its way down there.
Know whose ground you're on before the shovel goes in.
Learn the sluice well, and it will pay you back. Full guide here:
tomashworth.com/how-to-use-a-sluice-box

10/03/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1KDiK7gxah/

Join the Highland Lakes Metal Detecting Club for our monthly meeting on Saturday, October 3, 2026, at 10:00 AM in the Big Room at Kingsland Library. We’ll cover club reports, recent hunt updates, …

09/30/2026

If you're new to gold prospecting, the gold pan is where it all starts. It's cheap, it's simple, and it teaches you more about how gold behaves than any other tool you'll ever own. So I put together a step-by-step beginner's guide to panning for gold!

A few takeaways from the guide:
• Run your dirt through a classifier first. Big rocks keep the gold from settling to the bottom.
• Break up the clay. Gold stuck in a mud ball washes right out with the mud.
• Don't tilt the pan too steeply, and slow way down when you get to the black sand. That's where beginners lose the most gold.
• Want to practice? Drop a few small lead split-shot fishing weights into a pan of gravel. If you can pan it down and keep the lead, you're on the right track.

I also cover the basic gear you need, where gold collects in a stream, and where you can legally pan on BLM land, National Forests, and private land with the landowner's OK (plus why national parks are a no-go and why you need permission to pan on someone's mining claim). Learn the pan first. Everything else builds on it.

https://tomashworth.com/how-to-pan-for-gold-beginners-guide/

Learn how to pan for gold step by step: the gear you need, where gold collects, beginner mistakes, and where panning is legal on public land.

08/26/2026

https://youtu.be/CUe--r783Gc

I recovered a lost Texas State Class ring from Lake LBJ using my XP...

07/23/2026

On my beach detect app it shows hurricane Bertha with 3 lines. The red line is showing that sand will build making the beach sanded in. The yellow line indicates the current direction and where that contacts the beach sand will be nuetral, but have some deep cutting action. The green line is what you want. Where the green line crosses a beach is your best detecting.

See which US beaches and Great Lakes shores are good for metal detecting right now — live buoy, wind, waves, and storm scores.

07/20/2026

🚨 New free tool for metal detectorists 🚨

I just launched Dig or Not? — a simple app that helps you decide whether a signal is worth digging… and then keeps a permanent record of every find.

Go to this link on your phone:
👉 https://dig.tomashworth.com

Once you start using it, the app saves:

* A complete history of every dig decision you make
* Photos of your finds
* Estimated or actual values of what you recover

Over time you build a personal log of what you’ve found, where you found it, and what it was worth — something most detectorists wish they had started years ago.

You can use the app right in the browser, or install it on your phone so it works like a regular app.

How to install on iPhone:

1. - Open the link in Safari (it must be Safari)
2. - Tap the Share button (the square with the arrow pointing up)
3. - Scroll down and tap Add to Home Screen
4. - Tap Add

How to install on Android:

1. - Open the link in Chrome
2. - Tap the three dots in the top right
3. - Tap Add to Home screen or Install app
4. - Confirm

Once it’s on your home screen you can open it anytime and start building your personal find history with photos and values.

Give it a try and let me know what you think. Did I mention that all of my apps on my website are FREE with no upsell crap!

https://dig.tomashworth.com

Should you dig it? Get Dig / Maybe / Skip guidance from your detector settings, Target ID, depth, and signal.

07/19/2026

Check out my latest creation. I give you all the beach information you would ever need. I even do freshwater beaches. As always, my site is FREE. Check this site out:

See which US beaches and Great Lakes shores are good for metal detecting right now — live buoy, wind, waves, and storm scores.

07/10/2026

To all my metal detecting friends. Signup to my FREE lost jewelry page. It is brand new, so you can help others find lost items. You can look at my profile and get and idea how to add your profile to the list. This list will grow over time, so get your name in now and start helping people find their lost items.

Find local professionals who recover lost jewelry, phones, and valuables on land and underwater.

07/04/2026

https://tomashworth.com/custom-hookah-diving-system-for-shallow-water-treasure-hunting/