Prospecting is the first stage of the territory geological analysis (second - exploration): physical search for minerals, fossils, precious metals or mineral specimens, and is also known as fossicking.
Prospecting is a small-scale form of mineral exploration which is an organised, large scale effort undertaken by mineral resource companies to find commercially viable ore deposits.
Prospecting is physical labour, involving traversing (traditionally on foot or on horseback), panning, sifting and outcrop investigation, looking for signs of mineralisation. A prospector must also make claims, meaning they must erect posts with the appropriate placards on all four corners of a desired land they wish to prospect and register this claim before they may take samples.
Read more about Prospecting: Historical Methods, The Gold Rushes, Modern Prospecting