Outdoors people are crazy about them. Per a letter from the Department of Agriculture, no permit is needed for recreational gold panning and gold prospecting in the general national forest areas, provided no machinery is used. Our gold panning and prospecting maps show many national forests with gold sites. The gold maps tell you how to pan, where to look in a streambed and how to tell fool's gold from real gold. You can quickly learn to pan by following the instructions on your map.
Some people like to pan for gold at public rights of way where bridges cross gold-bearing streams.
Treasure hunters metal detect for coins at the rural schools and churches. Washington D.C. The gold was placed there when Africa overrode North America about 500 million years ago. North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia and Alabama have many gold mines and prospecting sites. These states were our main source of gold for 45 years before the California gold discovery. In 1837, the US Government established gold coin mints in Georgia and North Carolina, rather than transport the raw gold to the Philadelphia Mint.