Although gold can be located in Kansas, it would be on an extremely small scale. No commercial gold mining has been reported. Careful panning is your best bet. A Gold Cube
A serious prospector would probably want to consider exploring the nearby states of Wyoming and Colorado, as there was significant gold discoveries in these states in the past, and there is still gold for the recreational prospector today.
Nearby Gold Strikes
Kansas was certainly explored in the early days of gold discovery in the United States, but nothing of significance was ever found, although there were certainly attempts to deceive possible investors. When gold was discovered in Colorado, causing the Pikes Peak Gold Rush, there was some excitement in Kansas, but the gold just didn’t extend far enough to the west to include Kansas.
Northeastern Kansas
If a prospector is determined to try in Kansas, there are a few areas that will offer greater odds of success. Since the northeastern corner of the state was once covered with glaciers, there is a chance of finding some very fine textured flour gold.
The texture of this gold makes it extremely difficult to retain, but it does exist in many of the waterways, and requires very careful panning to hang onto it. Check out the areas north of the Kansas River and east of the Big Blue River.
Although there are small amounts of placer gold in the bigger rivers coming out of Colorado, the water travels several hundred miles from any of the Colorado gold districts, and the likelihood of gold of any size making it that far downstream is pretty small. If you want to pan for some fine flour gold try the Smoky Hill and the Arkansas Rivers.
Kansas does not even have any occurrences of gemstones; however the environment in prehistoric Kansas made it a perfect place for the preservation of fossils. So if you want to put up the gold pan for a bit and try rockhounding, fossil hunting is an option.
Next: Minerals Associated with Natural Gold