Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
This excavator gold mining adventure turned into a MONSTER GOLD find — enough gold to pay for the machine in a single day! 💰 We hit a desert honey hole, moved serious dirt, ran it through the dry washer, and uncovered chunky placer gold the old-timers left behind.
Become a Premium Patron for paydirt, metal detector giveaways, behind-the-scenes mining and more:
patreon.com/c/askJeffWilliams
DRYWASHER BUILD: boulder5dash@gmail.com
I BRAKE FOR BEDROCK: youtube.com/@IBRAKEFORBEDROCK
This time we're taking gold mining and gold prospecting to another level.
Instead of moving dirt one shovel at a time, we're bringing in an excavator to work promising desert ground and find out whether heavy equipment can actually pay for itself when you hit the right spot.
And it doesn't take long before the GOLD starts showing up.
We dig the target, recover chunky placer gold, clean out the dry washer and reveal exactly what this ground has been hiding.
But that's only the beginning.
From there we head into the surrounding mountains to investigate more than 100 years of mining history — historic miner cabins, old tram systems, quartz veins, abandoned workings and deep underground stopes where the old-timers chased high-grade mineralization.
Along the way I'll show you how to recognize the geological clues that can lead you toward gold:
• Iron staining and limonite
• Copper staining and alteration
• Quartz veins and parallel vein systems
• Hanging walls and footwalls
• Faults, slickensides and fault gouge
• Hydrothermal brecciation
• Pinch-and-swell vein structures
• Fluorite and hydrothermal minerals
• High-grade material hidden in old mine dumps
You'll also see why I keep telling prospectors:
Don't automatically chase the prettiest white quartz.
Sometimes the ugly, oxidized, broken and mineralized rock is exactly where you need to be looking.
We eventually find material showing the kind of mineralization these miners were after — including rock worth examining closely for native gold.
Whether you're into gold mining, gold prospecting, dry washing, abandoned mines, geology or simply finding GOLD, this trip has a little bit of everything.
The gold is still out there.
You just have to know what to look for.
⏱️ VIDEO CHAPTERS
00:00 - The Excavator Setup & Strategy
00:54 - Meet "Boulder Dash" & The Plan
01:59 - Digging the Target
03:30 - FIRST GOLD! Nugget Reveal
04:29 - Dry Washer Cleanout — LOOK AT THAT GOLD
05:48 - Exploring 100-Year-Old Miner Cabins
08:13 - Rich Quartz & Copper Staining
10:45 - Finding the Old Tram System
13:13 - Entering the Deep Mine Portal
14:24 - Reading the Veins & Fault Lines
16:40 - The 400-Foot Drop Shaft
17:40 - Squeezing Into the Gold Room
21:28 - Rappelling Down the Old Ladders
23:35 - Fluorite & Hydrothermal Minerals
29:13 - Why "Ugly Ore" Can Mean MORE GOLD
👍 Smash that LIKE button if you want to see more real-world gold mining and prospecting.
💬 COMMENT below and tell me: Would you rather work this ground with a shovel — or bring in the excavator?
🔔 SUBSCRIBE and join us for more gold prospecting, geology, mining and abandoned mine adventures.
Keep the Dream Alive!
#GoldMining #GoldProspecting #Excavator
This excavator gold mining adventure turned into a MONSTER GOLD find — enough gold to pay for the machine in a single day! 💰 We hit a desert honey hole, moved serious dirt, ran it through the dry washer, and uncovered chunky placer gold the old-timers left behind.
Become a Premium Patron for paydirt, metal detector giveaways, behind-the-scenes mining and more:
patreon.com/c/askJeffWilliams
DRYWASHER BUILD: boulder5dash@gmail.com
I BRAKE FOR BEDROCK: youtube.com/@IBRAKEFORBEDROCK
This time we're taking gold mining and gold prospecting to another level.
Instead of moving dirt one shovel at a time, we're bringing in an excavator to work promising desert ground and find out whether heavy equipment can actually pay for itself when you hit the right spot.
And it doesn't take long before the GOLD starts showing up.
We dig the target, recover chunky placer gold, clean out the dry washer and reveal exactly what this ground has been hiding.
But that's only the beginning.
From there we head into the surrounding mountains to investigate more than 100 years of mining history — historic miner cabins, old tram systems, quartz veins, abandoned workings and deep underground stopes where the old-timers chased high-grade mineralization.
Along the way I'll show you how to recognize the geological clues that can lead you toward gold:
• Iron staining and limonite
• Copper staining and alteration
• Quartz veins and parallel vein systems
• Hanging walls and footwalls
• Faults, slickensides and fault gouge
• Hydrothermal brecciation
• Pinch-and-swell vein structures
• Fluorite and hydrothermal minerals
• High-grade material hidden in old mine dumps
You'll also see why I keep telling prospectors:
Don't automatically chase the prettiest white quartz.
Sometimes the ugly, oxidized, broken and mineralized rock is exactly where you need to be looking.
We eventually find material showing the kind of mineralization these miners were after — including rock worth examining closely for native gold.
Whether you're into gold mining, gold prospecting, dry washing, abandoned mines, geology or simply finding GOLD, this trip has a little bit of everything.
The gold is still out there.
You just have to know what to look for.
⏱️ VIDEO CHAPTERS
00:00 - The Excavator Setup & Strategy
00:54 - Meet "Boulder Dash" & The Plan
01:59 - Digging the Target
03:30 - FIRST GOLD! Nugget Reveal
04:29 - Dry Washer Cleanout — LOOK AT THAT GOLD
05:48 - Exploring 100-Year-Old Miner Cabins
08:13 - Rich Quartz & Copper Staining
10:45 - Finding the Old Tram System
13:13 - Entering the Deep Mine Portal
14:24 - Reading the Veins & Fault Lines
16:40 - The 400-Foot Drop Shaft
17:40 - Squeezing Into the Gold Room
21:28 - Rappelling Down the Old Ladders
23:35 - Fluorite & Hydrothermal Minerals
29:13 - Why "Ugly Ore" Can Mean MORE GOLD
👍 Smash that LIKE button if you want to see more real-world gold mining and prospecting.
💬 COMMENT below and tell me: Would you rather work this ground with a shovel — or bring in the excavator?
🔔 SUBSCRIBE and join us for more gold prospecting, geology, mining and abandoned mine adventures.
Keep the Dream Alive!
#GoldMining #GoldProspecting #Excavator
