Any pointers on Ohio Gold?

[Axgar]

I am new to the idea of gold prospecting. .. good news is .. just for giggles i made my own pan with ridges in it out of a pie tin. and made a simple sluice as well and in the creek behind me found some small flakes .. (( strangely shaped at that .. kinda curled like it was shaven.. )) 1. is there a way to test if it is real.?? good news is that most water ways in ohio are public as long as they are navigatable by kyak.

I plan on getting a better pan cause the gold is so fine around here and my sluice box is working pretty good. lots of black sand ...

any good ideas on a begginers dredge.. one-two person operation perfered.

ok thanks and good hunting.

Axgar

 

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[nebraskadad]

Axgar,

first, to stave off discouragement, I'd buy a decent pan. I'd recommend at very least getting a Proline Gold Catcher or Garrett pan.

Gold is heavy, don't confuse Pyrite or Mica with Gold. Gold has a specific gravity of 19.8 where Mica has an SG of about 3.

Gold is malleable not brittle.. If it powders up more likely it is Leaverite (leave it right where you found it.)

You can put a drop of Nitric acid on it, if it fisses it's not Gold. You'll know what gold is when you see it. I'd recommend buying some "real dirt" to play with from Felix
http://www.felixpaydirt.com/


Gold is where you find it. (or where it's been found before) Ohio is known for fine glacial gold, If you found pay dirt work your dirt and keep it mum.

If the gold stuff goes to the bottom of the pan, when you stratify it in water by moving the pan in a circular motion then it may well be AU.

If you are interested I'd recommended starting by Joining the GPAA it's a good place for beginners to start, they supply a video, pan and places to go for $80.00.. try it for a year and see how it goes. http://www.goldprospectors.org/
The panning video is excellent. and the pan is the Proline mentioned above.

You may want to check out "Dredge Earth First" forum, and website, good group of prospectors with tons of dredging experience.

 

[Axgar]

Thank you for the information, i have ordered some better pans cause i am sure that i have lost some gold. (( what i thought was it was not gold ..but NOW i have actually found some and very pleased))

in about 4hours of sluicing i found about 20 flakes of gold.. but it now rained for two days and the creek is flooded over where i can pan and walk down to the bed rock area with out ending up in KY .. hehe

I am now classifying my material down to 1/4 inch .. so that is making the find much easier.

once again thank you for the input.

Axgar

 

[nebraskadad]

If you are in an area where you have a lot of fines, you might want to classify down to 20 mesh (like a kitchen screen colander)

pickup a cheap one at Wally world.

Great you are getting AU!!

 

[Axgar]

First full day down at the creek with my new pans .. and GREAT .. i found 15 flakes in my concentrates i have been saving for just this occasion .. and then found 23 more flakes with my digging..

Still on the nugget stimey list .. but i know it is out there ..hehe ..

I do use a spagetti strainner for my classifing .. but i will be looking into getting a smaller one here soon just to make my life easier.

Thanks for the tips ..

Axgar

 

[nebraskadad]

a decent spaghetti strainer (metal mesh kind) is generally around 20 mesh. That's a good start.

Check out the Dredge Hog for decent prices on items.. just Google Dredge Hog, Tom is a great guy and easy to work with, he got some good experience.. Another source is Lifestylestore.com

 

[Axgar]

(( what would be a good amount to find in ohio for lets say 5 hours .. 20 flakes 50 flakes??)) not sure if i should be looking elsewhere or stick with this proven gold for now. .

I can tell now that a suction dredge would be a great thing to have. maybe santa will hook me up this year.

(( i also did a test to make sure that my sluice is not pushing the AU out into the stream .. per 4 buckets of classified material .. through the sluice and then panned i am getting about 18 -25 flakes ... )) then i just classified and used the 30 mesh screen i bought today .. and got about 25 -30 flakes.. so i am wondering which way to go .. i just dont want to lose any flakes because i had the sluice set up wrong/ to fast

(( what way do you reccomend??))

thanks for the tip on the 30 mesh .. that was really easy to sift it down and classify ...

Axgar

 

[nebraskadad]

axgar,

I can speak to the Au in Ohio, you might want to locate the Ohio GPAA chapter and ask them your question, see contacts here:
Ohio
Buckeye Chapter, (Newark, OH)
Troy Johnson [email protected] (419) 547-6639
Meets 3rd Weekend Monthly (seasonal)
S. Ohio Tri State Chapter, (Lucasville, Oh.)
Ray Marting [email protected] (740) 646 3611
Meets at the Lewis Claim 1st Sat of every month

http://www.goldprospectors.org/chapter.cfm

 

[Axgar]

Thank you for that meeting info.. i am gonna send off a few emails to see what they say.

I had a really good day, found my first picker/largest piece yet. !! and 24 others to boot .. i moved down the creek about 5 yards to test a new part.

dang i wish i had gotten the gold bug in the spring instead of now .. the weather is not gonna hold out much longer i am sure of it .. being ohio and all. grr

once again thank you for the info.

Axgar

 

[nebraskadad]

as long as the creek ain't froze up and the gravel can moved!!! It got colder down here in NE last night. Talking frost over night here in Omaha. Good luck ax, post some pics when you get a chance.

 

[Axgar]

Yeah i have the bug bad right now .. hehe .. looking for every chance to go and get some digging and panning done. .. I took some panoramic pictures of the creek to see what i might be missing in some landscape features. after reading some tips on how to and where to look for the ( pay Streaks) figure on the cold days or short days i could get some ideas of where to maximise my efforts.

here is wheat i ahve gotten so far for my efforts .. attached pic.

thanks again ..Axgar

 

[nebraskadad]

Cool!! There Gold in them thar hills!!

 

[Axgar]

Uhh huh... and i found my lil piece of it it would seem .. hehe ..

Although my neighbor wants me to get it tested cause he is a pesimist and if he cant do it or find it himself then it cant be true... what a weenie... but once i find a nugget i am sure he willbe shoulder to shoulder with me down there..

How long / when did you get into prospecting?

(( wipes the wetness from behind my ears ))

Axgar

 

[nebraskadad]

I started "getting into it" a couple of years ago, there are guys that are around this and a couple other websites that having been in it since Eve ate the apple.

 

[Axgar]

Nice... when eve ate the apple .. that was good.

right now i a chomping at the bit to get back down at the creek cause a good rain came through and the holes i dug are filled with sand so i might dig them out real quick and run that material.

but the pay streak is chest high in water right now so i have to wait for it to go down some.
i did dig closer to the bank but only found a few flakes ... so i know i am out of the pay zone so to speak.

How often do you get to go panning?

thanks

Axgar

 

[nebraskadad]

Axgar,

I don't get out to Wyoming but a couple times a summer, wish I lived closer so I could get out on long weekends. Have two school aged kids and a spouse that require more of my time..

I brought home about 100-200lbs of "doncentrates" from my last trip.. I'd classified my sniping stuff down to 20 mesh. I am finding a lot of fines in the stuff I brought back from Douglas Creek. Now when my kids fly the coup, I will too. I get about 15-20 days of vacation a year, and you can bet I'll be beating butt up I-80 to Laramie, as often as a I can go.

I've heard tell of Glacial Till in Missouri although most of that is on private land. I've been meaning to trek down that way just for grins.

 

[Axgar]

Very cool that you spend quality time with the family. It would seem that some days there are not enough hours in the the day for all that we want to do.

being single and having a creek with fine flower gold behind my house seems to be a pretty good deal so far. I bought a good pair of hip waders at a garage sale for 15 bucks and that kept the chill off me today for a few hours i got to go and dig.

found 16 flakes and one almost picker .. still need to find his big brother and parents. but i know they are out there ...

i am still having trouble getting the right angle and water flow for my sluice ... so i have resorted to just putting legs on it and then pouring the water through it .. better control of the material and water flow because all the gold here is pretty fine.

i am probly gonna get a pump and just turn it in to a powered sluice so to speak. / high banker .. but that will be later in the winter time.

(( what do you do with your classified material that does not make it through the mesh? )) i am half tempted to run that just to see .. but seems like a bit of wasted time here in Ohio.

alrighty then .. have a great day

Axgar

 

[nebraskadad]

pan out what is left in your classifer!! that's wear nuggets might land. Clay hides uch, make sure to bust up the clays too,.

 

[Axgar]

so run the material that is left IN my strainer / classifier? .. maybe i should get two buckets and put the remainder in one and then run that after i run the finer stuff. I Got it now ..I will let you know how it goes today ..i got all day for digging .. 11am till dark .... yippie... looking for a pound or two of gold ... hehe yeah i wish ..

have a great day


Axgar

 

[Axgar]

well i ran the bigger stuff after i ran the finer material .. and found four pieces... which is not to bad .. but ifyou take all the buckets that i did not run it would be like 30 pieces.. grrr .. oh well i will keep doing that but wait till the end of the day and then take the concentrates home for a rainy day ... Over all i found 26 flakes today .. not to bad .. but they were of better size than the others i have been finding. tommorow .. i will move down the creek about 15 yards .. and see if the pay streak stays the same worse or better. ..

I am also starting a journal too ..

thanks for the tips and help .. maybe some day i can return the favor.

Axgar