A prospector explores areas for valuable minerals and materials. They need skills in geology, physical fitness, and technology. They identify potential sites and keep their interest discreet to avoid alerting others.
A prospector is someone who explores areas in search of minerals or other materials of value on Earth. Prospectors may work independently or may be employed by organizations such as mining companies. The prospector is the first person on site and the person who determines whether or not a site should be explored more aggressively. Prospectors can work all over the world looking for materials such as oil, coal, gold, diamonds and dozens of other minerals and metals that have commercial uses.
Prospectors need several different skill sets. Modern prospectors are often geologists, because knowledge of geology is critical to prospecting work, as is understanding how indicator minerals work. Indicator minerals are minerals that are commonly present in or around deposits of commercially valuable minerals and ores, and it is important to learn how to identify them. While some indicator minerals are well known, when prospectors and mining companies identify new indicators, they often keep them private so they have a leg up on the competition.
A prospector must also be physically fit, willing to travel and able to work long days. This work requires physically going to the site of interest, stakeout claims and filing associated documents, and collecting samples. Modern prospectors often start their work in the air, using a plane or helicopter to do a survey, but they will have to hit the ground eventually. As claims can be vast, this can take days or weeks in relatively remote areas.
Many prospectors work with advanced technology, including equipment used to test samples and computer programs designed to assist with prospecting tasks. As a result, they need to be comfortable with the computers and programs they use, and in some cases, they may need to create their own code for specialized projects. Although a prospector may contract this work out to someone else, intimate knowledge of the geology and the site being explored is required, and often the prospector is the person best suited for the job.
In the office, prospectors identify potential new sites of interest, working carefully to avoid alerting other prospectors and companies to the fact that they are interested in a site that has yet to be explored. Prospecting can, in fact, be quite disguised in some areas of the world; a prospector cannot do something like simply drive through an unexplored area, because that might alert other people to be interested in potentially valuable deposits of ore and minerals.
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