Is this the Blue Lead? Need help.

[jmkesler]

I have access to some family owned land in the county of Rowan in North Carolina and need some help with prospecting. Apparently there were at least 3-4 open pit and/or vertical shaft mines on the land in the 1800's but were never registered... and as such, no written history appears to be available. My Great grandparents found them when they bought the land and my great aunts and uncles remember the pits were about 30 feet wide and the shaft farther than you could see. They of course then filled them up trash back in the 1920's. Anyways, we are in gold country so I thought I'd see what was left. I haven't checked the remnants of the pit or the shaft but I have found some small gold in the small spring fed creek that goes through the property. My question is how to best get to it and what dirt/clay is best to process. The creek is old and doesn't have much water flow per say as it only begins about 300-400 yards away from our land. The origin is literally across the street. So there is not much in the way of gravel or sand bars and or typical places to look. This video is a view of the dark blue clay that lines the creek in most places and is full of quartz and other rocks. Is this the Blue Lead? I'll post a video of the creek soon.

Here's a link to the video on youtube:

 

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[PYRATE]

Clay will grab gold because of its stickiness so it may be trapping gold from the creek or it may be a source. Some of the saprolitic clays in the Carolinas can be remnants of gold bearing rock, but most are just clay.

Try this with the clay from the creek bed: Scrape off every bit of of exposed or softened clay (set aside to pan later) and then dig out a big chunk of the clay which hasn't been exposed to the creek and process it to see what it holds.

If the deep stuff contains gold, keep digging.

 

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[jmkesler]

Pyrate, that's a good idea. Mostly I've been panning the thick gritty stuff at the bottom. The gold is in the grits.... I might have just made a new T Shirt design... anyways, I have not really found it in the smooth sticky clay. As i work with it more, the gritty blue stuff appears to be exactly that, decayed bedrock or as someone else noted, kimberlite.

So, I am posting a question based that question. The comment suggested the blue layer could be a part of a decomposing kimberlite pipe. After reading it, I did a lot of research and, indeed, there is a layer of yellow soil, yellow dry clay and yellow to tan sedimentary rock above the blue clay. Not in all places, but many. The light yellow soil becomes thick sticky yellow clay as soon as water touches it and the rock just crumbles when pressured by hand or hammer. The rock I show in the video has small blue-ish crystals in it. I found it and others in the creek. The crystals are in the blue clay grit layer as well. The little crystals appear blue until you remove them from the rock or the green pan. Once removed they are white.

Are they diamonds?
If so, how do I find out?
Would it be worth getting one of those short wavelength UV lights?
View attachment 709572 View attachment 709573

Here is a video of the rock, the rock in the pan after crushing and close ups of the crushed ore after washing.

You'll need to skip to this time mark to see the crushed rock in the pan: 1:22.... I was a little long on showing the rock.



Thanks for any help you guys might could lend.
Jeremy

 

[PYRATE]

My guess is that it is quartz, but take a couple of the biggest ones to a jeweler or pawn shop - they'll have a tester

 

[russau]

if a person wants to learn more about the Blue Lead, get yourself a copy of the book "Lost River of Gold". it has been advertised in the back of the ICMJ for years and it has maps!

 

[hmmm]

if a person wants to learn more about the Blue Lead, get yourself a copy of the book "Lost River of Gold". it has been advertised in the back of the ICMJ for years and it has maps!

I have been trying to find this book for years, can someone tell me where i can find one. ill try look for ICMJ .

 

[russau]

EXCUSE ME!!! i just looked in my current ICMJ and its not there anymore.sorry but i did find it on Keene eng. online. or in their catilog. its called "Anceint River of Gold" by Morrison, not lost river of gold.its $19.95 goto Keene Engineering, manufacturer of mining, prospecting, diving equipment and more! and look in their online store under books/"where to prospect" make sure it comes with the maps. good luck and Merry Christmass!

 

[mattfink]

I was told by someone that has found a diamond if you dry the crystal rocks and they turn white its quartz if it remains shiny and cool to the touch its a diamond. So did you find anything out yet?