Sampling Help

[Frghtshkr]

OK I know you have to sample. My question his at what extent do you sample an area? I currently go to the Dumb Luck claim and the others around the area. I usually fill up a bucket or 2 and run through my Mini High Banker, or if there is water which is rare in the desert I will pan. But how much digging should I be doing just to sample one location? Sometimes I get held up in one location for 30-60 minutes and end up not seeing any color. Am wasting my time? Should I keep digging deeper just to sample?
Thanks

 

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[kazcoro]

Start in the biggest wash there. Dig down until you find gravel. Sample that layer. Take notes, and go down through that gravel layer and see if there is another gravel layer. Sample that layer, then keep going down. If you are seeing gold all the way down, when you hit bedrock, vacuum or scrape and sweep it really well and run that material as well. Now, move upstream. Repeat the whole process. Keep going up stream until you don't see any more gold. Once you have sampled the biggest wash in the area, start sampling the smaller washes. When you sample them, get a little ways up them before you sample. That way, the main wash won't be contaminating your samples. For example, start 20' up into the little wash. Once you have sampled the entire claim this way, you will have a detailed map of how rich the ground is. YOu may also see patterns in how the gold is deposited. You may find that one of the little washes is the richest one in the area. Mine that one. Also, you can sample the benches all around. The more sampling you do, the more info you will have. During this entire process, keep your eyes peeled for traps. They may be on the top, and obvious, or you may uncover them. I have a nice bench I work sometimes that has a bedrock trap. My process is to mine an area for at least half the day that I know as gold. Then, I spend the other part fo the day prospecting. That way, I always take some gold home, but am always on the lookout for a better area and more info.

 

[Frghtshkr]

Kaz Thank you for this info. Let me ask you, what if when I first sample an area and first initial test comes up with nothing? Should I move on immediately? That seems to be what I am running into. I do have a real small area that has exposed false bedrock that I usually hit up that gives me a little gold and I mean very little but I usually hit at the end so I don't get skunked.
Thank again

 

[KevinInColorado]

Great advice kaz, well described too!

 

[kazcoro]

Kaz Thank you for this info. Let me ask you, what if when I first sample an area and first initial test comes up with nothing? Should I move on immediately? That seems to be what I am running into. I do have a real small area that has exposed false bedrock that I usually hit up that gives me a little gold and I mean very little but I usually hit at the end so I don't get skunked.
Thank again

Obviously, you are in an area that has gold. I am assuming that you are sampling the first gravel layer you come to with your shovel and finding nothing? I only give up under two conditions:Either I hit bedrock (caliche counts, too), or I can't dig any deeper. If you can't hit bedrock, find a shallower area. How you should go about that is looking at what you CAN see. Look at the sides of your washes for any clues where bedrock dives into the wash. Or, look for exposed areas of br in the wash itself. You may find an upswell in the wash that has exposed the br. Okay, now you have a baseline. Dig right behind the exposed area and see how deep it goes. Remember, sample all the layers as you go. You may find one, or two, even three layers that all pay. With the low paying ground we have here in AZ, you will need to sample at least a 5 galloon bucket's worth of material. Just panning one pan's worth of material usually won't tell you anything. (We aren't working the Yukon, or the Bering Sea here after all!) I have found that the areas I hunt have either huge washes where bedrock is out of my reach, or small washes(4-10' across) where bedrock is shallow enough to work. Above all, don't overlook benches!!! Those are the unexplored areas of today. Look for br traps on those benches, or saddles where it looks like there may have been a small wash there at one point in time.

 

[Frghtshkr]

Thank you this will help me a lot. I have been hitting Dumb Luck But I am thinking Golden Dream or Vulture Bait next. Much more remote.

 

[Clay Diggins]

If you are prospecting Little San Domingo you need to get out of the washes and onto the benches above. The washes have been well cleaned. You are in the desert now ignore the water dynamics seen on the ground, they mean almost nothing in a desert. Shallow bedrock is OK if you are metal detecting but the real gold is trapped on the upper layers on the benches.

Very complex geology and deposits in LSD, it can be a very confusing area to the beginning desert prospector.

Look under bushes and clear away the cactus on the Golden Dream, the open areas have been pounded there. Don't bother digging to bedrock, desert gold doesn't move like that.

I wouldn't bother with Vulture Bait, you will find very small gold there but the geology is all wrong above the dam for any decent size deposits.

Heavy Pans

 

[Frghtshkr]

Wow! Thank you