Blue clay?

[Snarkie]

I was digging in the creek behind my house and hit a vein of blue clay. I remember someone telling me one time that veins of stinky gray clay can hold gold. This stuff certainly smells strong; like sulphur almost.

Does anyone know if this blue clay might be a good place to sample? It's dark gray, with a distinct navy blue tinge to it. It's about a foot below creek level, and a couple feet below the level of the bank. I wasn't panning when I found it, so I haven't had a chance to try it yet.

 

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[dave wiseman]

The smell might be decomposed pyrites/sulphides...

 

[Snarkie]

So, does that make it a good place to pan?

 

[Daedalus]

Snarkie there are a lot of things that make up a gold area ! So one of the many may not mean it is carrying gold.
I would take a sample and just work it down and see if you find any Gold or Gold flakes in what you work. That would be the best thing you could do to find out.
Do a little reading on where gold is and how to find it in stream beds . That will help. But yes take a sample and see what you have and take a few samples around the area and keep them apart with a label so you can go back to the right spot if you find something .

 

[Snarkie]

Snarkie there are a lot of things that make up a gold area ! So one of the many may not mean it is carrying gold.
I would take a sample and just work it down and see if you find any Gold or Gold flakes in what you work. That would be the best thing you could do to find out.
Do a little reading on where gold is and how to find it in stream beds . That will help. But yes take a sample and see what you have and take a few samples around the area and keep them apart with a label so you can go back to the right spot if you find something .

Thank you for the info.

I know I need to sample it; I was just hoping that there might be some good indicators; you know, kinda get my hopes up before I go back.

If I find any colors anywhere there, it really won't matter what came from where, as I'll dig the whole thing up.

This subdivision was supposed to be a quarry. It got voted down and homes were built instead. This means that it was never dug, but the natural tailings should have found their way to this creek. At least that's what I'm hoping.

My big question though, was: is blue clay more likely to contain gold? I have hundreds of feet to dig up, and I'd really like to funnel my chances.

 

[TheRandyMan]

There is another thread, and maybe more than one, here on Tnet dealing with blue clay. From what I was reading there it was connected to silver deposits. You might check for those posts. If I remember right, the poster's name was either "Hmm" or "Hmmm" or "Hmmmm". Good luck!

 

[Gold_Striker]

Blue mud? Learn about the richest silver deposit ever discovered!

In that hole, silver mining in America as we know it was born. In the rocker along with the gold was a large quantity of heavy blue-black material which clogged the rocker and interfered with the washing out of the fine gold. When assayed however, it was determined to be an almost pure sulphuret of silver.

The size, richness and cost of exploiting a buried ore body is very hard to estimate even today.
watch this story of virginia city. Also note the geologic factors in this area. They go right along with geology I've read about locating precious metal deposits.

 

[bill-USA]

http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,201884.0.html has lots of information about blue clay. Well worth the read for those like me who were ign0rant. I used to play in a blue clay deposit in Kentucky in my much younger days (pre-teen). Doubt I could find my way back to it at this point.

 

[Snarkie]

Hey, thanks Guys!

Looks like I have a little reading to do. I'll really feel stupid if I've been looking for gold and it's a source of silver instead.

 

[Astrobouncer]

Theres a lot of blue clay in both North and South Carolina from what I have found. And usually, every time I find some of it I at least find fine gold nearby. Usually the gold is in the top inch or so with the other heavies that you would find from being at the bottom of a river, and the blue clay is a saprolite found at the bottom layer of either an ancient riverbed or merely throughout a bench deposit. The consistency of this clay varies with the type of rock it once was before it became chemically weathered.

 

[Gold_Striker]

Thanks Bill-USA it's nice to have users around like you, who have explored the forum and can tell us where to look for the info we need. This forum is huge!

 

[Frankn]

Over the years, I have read two stories that contained references to blue clay.
Don't ask, I can't even begin to remember the source.
In one story the blue clay contained "wire gold" That is about 1/4 " strands of gold roughly 12" long.
In the other story the sluices were being caked up with a blue/gray clay substance. It was learned later that it was platinum.
Buy the way there is blue clay on my place in a spring fed mucky area. It is app. 1' down and at least 1' thick. I have found things in it which lead me to believe it is from the last 100 year flood we have in this area. Frank

 

[WTstandUP]

I have lots of blue gray clay that is on my land, is it worth anything?

 

[Oakview2]

There is a rather large thread on site with a member that has a claim with substantial blue clay...

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/gold-prospecting/105660-blue-clay.html