human attempts to find gold, and ingest and bring the new deposits to the surface. They believe that studying termite nests may lead to less invasive methods of finding gold deposits. Herodotus reported about gold-digging ants. Recreational prospecting Small-scale recreational prospecting for placer gold has been seen in many parts of the world including New Zealand (especially in Otago), Australia, South Africa, Wales (at Dolaucothi and in Gwynedd), in Canada and in the United States especially in western states but also elsewhere. Gallery See also Gold mining in Alaska Gold in California Gold nugget Gold panning Gold Prospectors Association of America Gold rush Hushing Mineral exploration Placer mining Recreational gold mining References External links USGS article on gold prospecting Public Gold Fossicking Areas in New Zealand Modern-Day Gold Diggers - slideshow by NPR - Gold Maps, Historic Mines Prospecting