Take us through your sampling process and how you determine to mine or move on. ty!

[GoldHunter24k]

Hey all, I was wondering if any vets/old timers can shed some light on their gold sampling process. Such as, how deep do you dig, how many holes per area before you know to move on? Thanks so much

 

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[kuger]

??sampling for what?

 

[Jason in Enid]

I pick a likely spot and dredge a hole down to bed if possible. Cleanout and move either up stream or out into the center of the stream and dredge another hole down. Repeat over and over.

The thing that sucks is that gold can be different in every stream. It can be spread all over with a hot zones, or it can be concentrated into pockets with almost nothing outside those narrow spots.

 

[63bkpkr]

I'm working river canyons. For the running rivers I "read the river" and check the obvious locations with a metal detector and clean out crevices and pan. For historic placer deposits again I metal detect. All of this is work, just the backpacking in and out as well as digging, moving boulders and the like. I also clean up after myself.

How deep, as deep as the detector reads and deeper if I still get a signal......63bkpkr

 

[TerryC]

Here is a method of locating and "placering" for gold. These are very basic instructions assuming you have NO prospecting backround at all. There are several methods that can be used. This method is for dry arid regions that have no "on site" water. These instructions are good for the Rich Hill area of Arizona but can be used in any area of desert arroyos. Arroyos are gullies, gulches, or stream bottoms formed by water coming down from mountains or other similar areas that are only wet during a small portion of the year, usually winter and spring or local thunderstorms. DO NOT set up camp in the bottom of an arroyo!! Thunderstorms 5 or 10 miles away can form WALLS of water that can come down the streambed during the night and KILL you in your tent and/or ruin your equipment faster than you can get out of the way. Ok. First... go where others have found gold before. Go to a local club and buy a membership. In the Rich Hill area, try the Y-not, Weaver Mining District, Roadrunner, or others. They go for about $45 a year. Or, if you want to go "whole hog", I would suggest purchasing one of Terry Soloman's gold prospecting adventures/training seminars that he runs during "the season". The office for the Weaver club is just west of the intersection of Hwy 89 and 71 (Country Corner gas station). Go west a short ways till you see the GROCERY store sign on the left. The office is at the east end of that strip mall and closes at 2pm. The locals here are SERIOUS about their claims and they carry GUNS. 'nough said about that. KNOW where you are digging. The minimum equipment needed is: a 14" pan, a 10" finishing pan, a shovel, 1/2 inch (#2 mesh) sieve, a rock hammer or medium sized pick, and washing tub. The tub that works best is called a garden soil mixing tub... about 3 feet long by about 2 feet wide and only 8 inches deep.... found in most local hardware stores. Once a member, use their supplied maps to get to the digging spots. Look for holes that others have dug. You have a choice now. You can look for "red dirt" on the sides of the arroyo and dig or dig on the sides of the stream bed... where the flat bottom meets the bank. The red dirt is mineralized stuff that is said to hold more gold/minerals than "grey" dirt. Put the sieve over the bucket and start breaking up the stuff and strain out the rocks as you shovel it into the bucket. fill the bucket with dirt. After it is full, position the 14" pan into the tub of water. Using your hands, begin to fill the pan 3/4 full. The pan is now under water in the tub. Now get your fingers into the mess and AGITATE, AGITATE, AGITATE. You need to get the dirt completely wet and putting your fingers in there makes the gold fall to the bottom. Agitate for about 10 to 15 seconds to get that gold DOWN. Now you work the pan in a large circulating motion, making all the contents swirl around. Every 2 or 3 times around, tip the pan so some of the dirt slides out of the pan. After about 1/2 of the load has been swirled out of the pan, AGITATE again. do this agitating and swirling until most of the contents is in the tub or you have mostly just "black sand" left. At this point, put the black sand into the 10" pan. Agitate and swirl somemore until most of the black sand is in the tub. If you are lucky, you may start to see LARGE chunks of yellow stuff. Have your nitroglycerine tablets nearby... your heart may try to jump out of your chest! If you don't see gold yet, not to worry! The smaller gold likes to hide down there RIGHT TO END! Be more careful and work the sand out. Pour off most of the water and give the pan a little "swirl-push" to spread the remaining sand all over the bottom. Now you will see the tiny gold. Here is the most fun part.... using a funnel, pour the gold into a one ounce vial to overflowing! 40 buckets of "stuff is about equivalent to a cubic yard of material. multiply the 5 gal bucket results to determine ROUGHLY what the yield is per cubic yard. These instructions are by no means all you need to know.... just basic. I can only speak for the Rich Hill area and Calaveras County, CA but, if you come down to Rich Hill AZ, and latch up with TimC and I, we can GAURANTEE you will find gold. Good luck. TTC

 

[GoldHunter24k]

Thanks Terryc that was a great post! Lots of great advice there! I would love to come to Rich Hill and sling some dirt with you guys. How often do you go there? Its about 6 hours from me.

It's funny that you mention Terry Soloman because i hooked up with him on Friendly metal detecting forum and sent me some pics of a Tesoro LST that I am going to purchase from him if budgets permit

 

[oldbrundogg]

Wow Terry I think you could train us all in your sleep. Thanks for the lesson.

 

[TerryC]

Thanks Terryc that was a great post! Lots of great advice there! I would love to come to Rich Hill and sling some dirt with you guys. How often do you go there? Its about 6 hours from me.

It's funny that you mention Terry Soloman because i hooked up with him on Friendly metal detecting forum and sent me some pics of a Tesoro LST that I am going to purchase from him if budgets permit

GH24... Although I spend most of my time in CA, I go to the RV outside of Rich Hill monthly. I have invited others and invite you to come on down. TimC lives there (Yarnell) permanently and he or I will put you on the gold. ALL the equipment you would need is already on site. C'mon down! (and tnx for thr reply) Olddogg... I have only been prospecting ACTIVELY for about 5/6 years. It is my PASSION... fulltime. I have made the Rich Hill area my specialty/favorite spot. There are others on the Tnet that are heads above me when it comes to experience and knowledge in prospecting. Dave Wiesman, Kuger, Tom_in_CA, Terry Soloman, etc. I pay CLOSE attention to their posts to enrich my knowledge. You should also. Tnx much, my friend. TTC

 

[GoldHunter24k]

Do you prospect year round? I'm used to hardy New England winters so the cold weather doesn't deter me Where in CA do you usually go? I have to say that I'm really interested in the logistics of the kind of full-time prospecting you do but not really interested in any kind of touristy type stuff.

I agree Tnet has been a blast so far. I'm always checking the forum for new info and I've learned so much already. It's proved an indispensable resource, especially with all the great members and experienced prospectors. Seems like the answer to all my questions are around here somewhere..

 

[TerryC]

In CA I hunt in and around Cavaleras County. In AZ I hunt the Rich Hill area alot. Some around Quartzsite. Winter spring and fall are the hunting times around RH. NOT summertime. Too hot! Good places to hunt around RH. When you come out here, nothing touristy about hunting here. You will work hard and SWEAT! Town is 7 or 8 miles away so go to town if you want to be a tourist. Out here we will work. TTC

 

[kuger]

Tom in Cal....for gold knowledgeReally Terry

 

[oldbrundogg]

Well Kuger,I'm as novice as they get but once you get past location diggin is diggin. If he can help me dig smarter i can at least try to listen.

 

[kuger]

Well Kuger,I'm as novice as they get but once you get past location diggin is diggin. If he can help me dig smarter i can at least try to listen.

...not saying he isnt a smart guy,but gold hunter he is not...he will tell you that.

 

[Goodyguy]

Hey all, I was wondering if any vets/old timers can shed some light on their gold sampling process. Such as, how deep do you dig, how many holes per area before you know to move on? Thanks so much

To learn prospecting in an entertaining as well as informative format here are 15 + pages that will increase your knowledge: http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/metal-detecting-gold/69-bedrock-gold-mysteries.html

 

[GoldHunter24k]

Thanks Jason, 63bkpkr for the input!

And thanks Goodguy! Always love informative pieces such as these Great stuff

I'll throw this out there too, also a great read.


Getting Gold: A Practical Treatise for Prospectors, Miners, and Students

 

[Goodyguy]

Thanks for the link GH24k ....... I enjoyed reading the material.

GG~