Found some placer gold in ohio...NEED advice

[Ohio Wild Man]

Greenhorn Gold prospecter in ohio here, need some advice on where to look. I live in youngstown ohio by the mahoning river. Found some Flour gold right in my backyard in a spot where drainage has cut out the earth..Pics attached of gold

 

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[hunter_46356]

Wild man....Look no further. You have found what you most likely will find anywhere else in OH. I live in IN. and both states are known for placer gold brought here by the glaciers. Depending on what type of drainage your talking about it is just a smaller example of any bigger tributary. Since you've already got gold as close as your property, I'd be looking for the concentrations of that gold. Depending how big this water way is, look for inside bends, gravel bars, bed rock or a clay layer. Anything or place where the flour gold will drop out or accumulate do to changes in the hydraulics or bed rock or clay that will stop it from going any deeper in the soil. Where does the water pressure drop off? Gravel bars are a perfect indicator of this low pressure area. That's what caused them to be. If this drainage is much smaller and doesn't run water all the time I'd look for deeper holes or defined difference in the soil in the banks. Looking for gravels and iron looking stained soils. The gold you've found has come from somewhere and chances are it's just waiting for you to dig it up.

 

[Gold Maven]

Nice stuff Wild Man.

The gold is here in Ohio, but hard to find in quantity. It's a fun hobby, and you never know what you might find.

Here's some Ohio gold pulled from a gravel pit, where some of the gravel washing machinery helped to concentrate it.

 

[Ohio Wild Man]

thanks hunter app. all the help i can get...where i found it is avg. 7ft wide but is also 7-10 feet deep only about 100 feet long. take a look at this deep gorge valley with a creek at the bottom that is really close to me and tell me what you think about prospecting here. Notice the s shape in the gorge. I have been down there since i was a child. 100 feet drop offs, and huge exposed bedrock boulders. the creek really flows in spring and after heavy rain falls.

 

[Ohio Wild Man]

nice gold gold maven. what do you think about this creek gorge

 

[KevinInColorado]

OWM, the material you have in your pic is very sharp edged. It seems unlikely it is gold due to this. Have you tried cutting it with a knife or crushing it? Gold is soft so I'd expect those pieces to have been mashed into soft rounded shapes by the glaciers and rocks it's been with for a millennia.

 

[hunter_46356]

Wildman all I can say is it looks great from the sat. view. It's a deep enough cut to have washed through an whole lot of glacial moraine, washing and concentrating the gold somewhere down the creek. You just got to find it.

 

[hunter_46356]

Gold Maven, That's some mighty fine gold for this part of the country. May I ask how your prospecting. Panning, High Banking, or dredging? Most Hoosiers that find the Chunkier stuff over hear are dredging that'd be my guess.

 

[Ohio Wild Man]

hey kevin the biggest peice in the top isnt gold i dont think its more a bronze color and it sticks to a magnetprob. pyrite the rest it very yellow and not maegnetic do you think the rest is gold

 

[KevinInColorado]

hey kevin the biggest peice in the top isnt gold i dont think its more a bronze color and it sticks to a magnetprob. pyrite the rest it very yellow and not maegnetic do you think the rest is gold

looks like several of the pieces are pyrite but some may be gold too. Watch some YouTube videos on panning and then see how your "gold" behaves in a pan with some water in it. Betting you see quickly whether those pieces all act the same or some move much easier than others. The ones that don't want to move are most likely gold.

 

[Ohio Wild Man]

Hey Kevin, Just crushed the big piece with a pair of pliers & it flattened out. It did not break up. Is this a good sign ?

 

[pcampbell]

It's a good sign

 

[KevinInColorado]

Hey Kevin, Just crushed the big piece with a pair of pliers & it flattened out. It did not break up. Is this a good sign ?

yup very very good!

 

[Ohio Wild Man]

What does it mean though ?

 

[H&F909ORO]

Does it only shine on one side in the sun? Or in the shade?

 

[Ohio Wild Man]

I'm not sure . I will check

 

[roadrunner]

What type of open pit or dirt mine is to the east of your s turn?
That is some rich red dirt. If it is dirt and not some left over slag or some thing.

You are also in a low lying area since the river is to the north of your spot.
I would be hitting that bend like crazy. Small pan. 7 inch Garrett with riffles.
Put it in a back pack and a canteen of water and do a little panning on the spot.
But watch out for people,make sure they dont see you. I would go after that mine or pit closed down for the day.

 

[Gold Maven]

Gold Maven, That's some mighty fine gold for this part of the country. May I ask how your prospecting. Panning, High Banking, or dredging? Most Hoosiers that find the Chunkier stuff over hear are dredging that'd be my guess.

It came out of some sand washing machinery in a gravel pit. I'm building a larger sluice, it's hard to catch that fine stuff. It's also hard to keep my box from booming....I'm hosing material out of a giant vessel into my box, and I can't keep the feed rate right.

Working 6 and 7 days/week the last couple years, and it's almost impossible to find the time to play in the dirt.

 

[Lanny in AB]

Hey Kevin, Just crushed the big piece with a pair of pliers & it flattened out. It did not break up. Is this a good sign ?

If it flattened out, you're most likely on to gold, for if it's golden in color, and it's malleable, those are properties of gold. If it hangs down low in the pan and is very sluggish and more or less hates to move when you gently swish the water over it, that's often a pass on the specific gravity test too.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[Ohio Wild Man]

thanks for the advice road runner! it is some rich red dirt i have been up there before it is some kind of mine. would like to hear again from you. the valley with the s carved into it is really low 100 ft drop in elevation .some of the walls in the valley are pure rock 10 15 ft high. in one wall int he middle of solid rock there is a layer of coble and hardpack very hard to pry at is this an option to test. also inside if the rock hillside there is a cave with a 5 ft wide opening that is circular gets very large inside about 25 ft in diamater crazy big.

Ill get a picture of these feature asap for you guys.