Trouble finding "pay-dirt", any help appreciated!

[Huelten]

This may seem like an extremely open ended question, and im sure it is without pictures or videos, but im having trouble finding gold bearing dirt. When the gold resides in the stream i can find it no problem, im fairly good at that and knowing what to look for IN the stream. But im in a new claim where there really is no considerable gold in the stream itself. I noticed an area about 20 feet above the waterline where people had been digging previously. (its a mining club claim) So i stuck my shovel in there Thursday morning and ran 8 buckets as a test. I pulled out about 4 nice pieces including my first ever picker, which ill attach a picture of. So i went back today to kill that spot. i ran 15 buckets and got one spec of flour gold out of it... So i moved up the stream and ran about 15 more buckets from a hillside, got about 10 specks. Test pans everywhere came up empty. I know there is good gold there im just not sure how to find it. So, to my question. If anyone can help me learn what to look for in these kinds of situations, anything that could help or links to good videos or articles explaining this type of prospecting. im attaching a picture of the area im in, not a great one but gives a little reference

 

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[roadrunner]

Judging by your pic, you can see about 3/4 up on the right side there is some green bushes.Just in front of it there are some rocxks in a row, and looks like an over hang of roots or some thing.
I would dig that up from the river bed, under that spot into the hillside.

 

[Bonaro]

You found pickers in one spot where everyone was digging but there is nothing anywhere else and especially not in the stream....Hmmm
You said you just got this claim...is there any possibility it was salted to make the sale tastier?

 

[KevinInColorado]

Look for similar sized rocks in a row on the hill side...usually roughly parallel to the current stream direction. This is the sign of a bench deposit made by the river before it cut its way down into the current streambed. Dig around those rocks until they roll down the hillside and squish someone...oops. Seriously do be careful about digging around big rocks on a hillside - otherwise Darwin Awards, here we come!

 

[B H Prospector]

Funny thing about gold Heulten is it is as the old saying goes, it is where you find it. In your testing you could be 3" above an 2" to the left of a huge pocket and not even know it. Partly because you gave up on the spot and partly because you just never know. If you found 4 nice pieces in a hole someone else started chances are they got the bulk and left you the crums. The trick is to study why it was that spot they decided to dig. Then see if there are similar spots near by. What is the soil like. Is there large cobble and rocks there or is it fine sand or gravel. Are there indicators there like blacksand, garnetts, pyrite or white quartz? When digging on a bench out of the creek channel you are basically looking for the same things as in a creek. Look at the surrounding high ground. Is the bench on the inside curve of a canyon or gulch or raveen? What are the obstructions in the bench? Don't put much faith in a tree growing in the middle of the bench though. That bench could have been formed 5000 years ago anf the tree is only 80 so it wasn't growing when the creek channel flowed there so the roots aren't going to hold anything special. Are there large boulders in it? These are the things to think about when working high benches. I have worked ancient benches that were 500 ft. above the creek and 1/4 a mile away and found good gold.

Good Luck!

BH Prospector

 

[Huelten]

Yeah im sure the claim wasn't salted, i joined a club i didn't buy the claim, and i know im in great gold country. @ BH Prospector, actually the best success i had today was about 50 feet up the bank i noticed a lot of large rounded stones in a line up the bank, contained alot of gravel. The material was hard packed between the rocks but broke up to an extremely fluffy and light material, almost no black sand or quartz in it. I didnt find gold in any test pans that i took from all over the bank. I did find gold there though, took about 15 buckets to find what ill post below. Is that OK that im not finding black sand or quartz in any pans? I guess what i found is better than nothing, im just not very confident in the material im running.

,

 

[Armchair prospector]

Is there any bedrock on this claim or is it under overburden? More pics may help. Find the bedrock!!!

 

[golden sluice]

You've got some illusive gold... this might mean you are close to the originating source or flash floods have completely stripped the flour gold down stream and left the plinkers there for you only to find. Gold is where you find it. Try some sniping up in the higher banks and shoals looking for ancient riverbeds above this river.

git the gold.

 

[golden sluice]

You've got some illusive gold... this might mean you are close to the originating source or flash floods have completely stripped the flour gold down stream and left the plinkers there for you only to find. Gold is where you find it. Try some sniping up in the higher banks and shoals looking for ancient riverbeds above this river.

git the gold.

 

[B H Prospector]

You won't always find quartz or blacksand. Those are just two of the indicators I mentioned because they are the most common. Where you find blacksand you don't always find gold, but where you find gold you "usually" find blacksand.Keep at it. You will eventually find a good pocket. That is why it is callec prospecting. If it was easy everyone would be doing it and gold would be as valuable as lead. Don't get discouraged your day will come and I will be here to congratulate you. Some go years and not even find what you have much less the nice picker you posted.

Good Luck!

BH Prospector

 

[Huelten]

I keep telling myself that if its not easy no one would do it, and i believe it. I love the challenge i just want to gather as much knowledge as i possibly can, im a relatively new prospector, only been doing this about a year and a half. Knowledge is power though, and i want to know as much as i possibly can about gold and how it acts. I dont know many experienced prospectors in person however so this forum is my main resource for learning stuff i cant find in books or other pages. All the info ive received has been great so thanks to all of you!

 

[B H Prospector]

You are more than welcome. There are alot of great folks on here.

 

[kazcoro]

That is one nice thing about club claims. No hole jumping. You don't have to worry about getting yelled at for digging in an open hole. You do have to be careful to fill your holes back in, though. The BLM likes to shut down club claims that have holes unfilled. As far as finding the gold, look all over the place. Literally, look. Spend some time just eyeballing the whole claim. Look for gravels. Look for holes. Look high, look low. Talk to as many people as you can when they and you are there. Many have no problem helping out a fellow miner. Good way to find digging partners, too.

 

[Huelten]

Ive been looking at my area on google earth looking for possible high bench areas. I found this interesting looking area and im wondering what you guys think. It looks to me like a river or stream could have once run through the area. I know testing will tell me the answer but im wondering if im reading this geography correctly. What yall think?

 

[kazcoro]

The area you have shaded looks promising. Good eye.

 

[jog]

I don't want to give out any info that will say where your at for your privacy but it looks like the area you are mining in is very well known for hard rock mining. The two circles are old hard rock mines and there is a lot of old hard rock mines in the area. Finding gold on the side of a hill like where you have circled may not be that easy, the gold that is eroded from the source may not have enough elevation to really fan out before ending up in the river so it may be a narrow pay streek that you are looking for. It does look like there is a lot of mining history in the area so keep trying.

 

[omnicron]

If it's high bench, dig deeper, don't stop till you either hit bedrock or people speaking Chinese.

 

[Teenagegoldminer]

if i where you id look at my other options remember your state is like 90% public lands so you can always check those out if not just keep sample panning theres bound to be gold somewhere

 

[jog]

Ask the claim owner(s) who owns the land at the bottom of the draw outside the claim boundry and if you can search it. Start at the bottom and work up, also I would be looking for these two old mines (gold) & test in an upside down v pattern below them. Good luck....

 

[Huelten]

@jog. Good spot on those hard rock mines, i missed those on that mine cache page until you just showed me. I know there is a few active mines in the area so ill be sure to ask. Here in a few weekends im gonna hit this spot again on a saturday and you know where on a sunday to dig some more test holes. ill be sure to email you here soon . I did find my best gold on the opposite side of the area i highlighted, i should have considered that when looking