placer | West Coast Placer

Record 01 Mar 2026 History

The Philosophy of Exploration

Have you ever taken a risk? It sounds like a simple question, but if you look closely it reveals something about the kind of…

Record 02 Dec 2025 Lists

Developing a successful placer mine is hard. Really hard. The failure rate for rookie miners is well over 60%. At face value it seems…

Record 03 Feb 2023 Equipment

Prospecting for gold is an activity that has captured the imagination of man for thousands of years. There’s something about gold that grabs at…

Record 04 May 2022 Equipment

There are many different types of washplants on the market today. The one thing that they all have in common is that everyone says…

Record 05 Feb 2022 Trip Reports

In April 2021 West Coast Placer was hired to assist in exploration for a large-scale alluvial gold project in Sierra Leone, West Africa. This…

Record 06 Nov 2021 Equipment

What makes placer mining unique is that you have control over your own destiny. The barriers to entry are low and a small group…

Record 07 Jan 2021 Equipment

As prospectors, we have a deep connection to the past. We live in a world where technology has advanced to an amazing level. High…

Record 08 Mar 2020 History

Throughout mining history, there are stories of scoundrels, cheats, bandits, and liars. The gold rush towns had their share of bad actors but above…