Show POINTERS FOR prospectors D L blake we have previously covered the type of transportation most used on the colorado plateau the stern nee e etsity of carrying ample drinking water and foods that do not require refrigeration and the wisdom of taking first aid and snake bite kits at long last we are to gather the tools and special equipment needed for actual prospecting first get yourself a reliable corn com pass and accustom yourself to using it you 11 have to use it when you finally do stake a claim but likely you 11 R be needing it long before you arrive at your claim to be that is unless you have money to burn and can afford to take a native guide with you after you ve followed tortuous twisting dipping trails with frequent hairpin curves for a few hours you 11 hardly know your left hand from your right much less north from south A compass will be your surest method of keeping the four corners of the earth in their proper places and you knowing where they are maps are your next necessity decide the general area in which you wish to prospect and then pur chase some government cal maps of the particular area some in dependant dealers carry them or you can contact your near est U S geological survey office study your maps well so as to ac quaint yourself with local land marks canyons streams dry washes plateaus ridges etc the maps will also list some of the roads and trails you are likely to travel new trails trails are constantly being made so it is impossible for a map to list much more than the principal ones when you finally make a discovery of radio active ore and are ready to stake your claim there are several things you will need one is a meas tape or a rope of known length in order to lay out a claim of the proper size unless you expect to merely pace it off which can be done b but ut is harder and not nearly as accurate you should also have a couple of rock picks a small one and a large one and some small ore sacks for your samples be sure that each ore sack is carefully marked with the exact location from which the ore was taken location notices can be obtained from a local printer stationery store or from the office of the county recorder for each claim staked you must have two notices one is to f file ile at the county seat and the other is left at the discovery monument on the claim some people make out three location not ices one for themselves to keep as an easy reference rele rence after filling out notices for one or two claims you U probably be glad to use carbon paper to facilitate and speed up the groces you can use old tin cans or bottles with lids in which to store the notices left at the discovery monument As has been said before in finding and staking a claim many hours will be spent in walking often in the blazing sun you U R bless the impulse that made you carry a small can teen of water slung over your shoulder on these never ending hikes you will have to learn consider able basic geology to even know where is a likely spot to actually hunt for uranium but once you have located a promising area you 11 need some kind of a counter to tell you that radio active ore is actually present the subject of counters and how to use them will be explained in later articles until next week happy hunting |