A prospector is someone who explores areas in search of valuable minerals or other materials. Prospectors can work for themselves or for companies like mining companies. The prospector is the first person on the ground, and he or she is the one who decides whether or not a site should be pursued more aggressively. Prospectors can work all over the world looking for commercially valuable materials such as oil, coal, gold, diamonds, and a variety of other minerals and metals.
Prospectors require a diverse set of skills. Modern prospectors are frequently geologists, as geology and an understanding of how indicator minerals work are both essential for prospecting work. Indicator minerals are minerals that are frequently found on or near deposits of commercially valuable minerals and ores, and learning to recognize them is crucial. While some indicator minerals are well-known, when prospectors and mining companies discover new ones, they often keep them hidden to gain an advantage over their competitors.
Physical fitness, willingness to travel, and the ability to work long days are all requirements for prospectors. Physically going to the site of interest, staking claims and filing associated paperwork, and collecting samples are all part of this job. Modern prospectors frequently begin their work in the air, surveying with a plane or helicopter, but they must eventually return to the ground. Because claims can be large, this can take days or weeks in remote areas.
Many prospectors use advanced technology, such as assaying equipment and computer programs to help with prospecting tasks. As a result, they must be at ease with computers and the programs they use, and they may even be required to write their own code for specialized projects. While a prospector can hire someone else to do the work, an intimate understanding of geology and the site being explored is required, and the prospector is often the best person for the job.
Prospectors identify new potential sites of interest in the office, working carefully to avoid alerting other prospectors and companies to their interest in a site that has not yet been explored. Prospecting can be quite shady in some parts of the world; for example, a prospector cannot simply drive through an unexplored area because this may alert other people to the presence of potentially valuable ore and mineral deposits.