need some help on my numbers

[KiddoTheMiner]

so in my time prospecting(not long)
ive been trying for a goal of 2.5 grams a day
today I made it out for 3 hours and probably dug a hole 1.5 yards in size with some good gold retention in my
homemade fluid trap
so if in 8 hours I can move maybe 4.5 yards of material 2.5 grams of gold is $100/4.5 yards
I need around $22, which I have had no success finding, ive spent entire days sampling gravel bars or working material
and I haven't even got a gram in my season count, so I have to be doing something wrong
ive already come to the assumption that the general area im working doesn't have much gold and I need to move
so I guess im asking what kind of gold do I need per pan or per bucket to reach my goal
also is $22 a yard common or rare in Georgia, do I have unrealistic expectations or is $22 a minimum

any help is appreciated, heavy pans

 

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[KiddoTheMiner]

I just went through the entire thread Kiddo. I am enjoying the discussion as well as your spirit. While I am all for setting goals and challenging yourself its important to be realistic too. In all honesty your arbitrary 2.5g per day goal is unrealistic at this time. I'd suggest the double up method; Get your 1st gram then see how soon you get the 2nd. Then 4, 8 etc... Looking at the video even the100+ peices of gold Doc was all excited about was around a dollars worth.

Maybe $$$/day should be less important while challenging yourself to achieve other (non-monetary) goals be more of your focus. Learning to read a stream, test an area and get the most our of your equipment are some. Researching land status and regulations then safely executing a prospecting day trip to an area where you haven't been before. You may also pat yourself on the back for learning alternate methods for the specific areas you visit, for example pans only areas or even sniping.

Good luck to you and don't be discouraged. You aren't doing it wrong.

thanks for the advice

but I did pm doc about the gold he found in that 180 degree bend, he said to them its just crazy to be able to take a random pan and find gold
that bend isn't worth mining, it was just crazy for that spot

 

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[huntsman53]

thanks for the advice

but I did pm doc about the gold he found in that 180 degree bend, he said to them its just crazy to be able to take a random pan and find gold
that bend isn't worth mining, it was just crazy for that spot

Kiddo,

While I like to watch a lot of Gold propecting videos done by Doc and respect most of what he has to say but how can you dig maybe 2 feet below the stream bed level and determine that a stream has no Gold??!! You need to understand that portions of the Appalachians and especially some of the Blue Ridge Mountains were 5 to 6 miles high some 100 to 300 miliion years ago due to now extinct Volcanoes but have eroded away to what we see now. The creeks, streams and rivers that you now prospect in, are not what they once were. Many of these were once actually large and raging rivers and streams flowing out of mountains higher than the Rockies and as wind...rain and erosion eroded the mountains, the vast valley and lowlands filled with the soil...rocks and silt brought down from the mountains, the rivers and streams slowed and became smaller and smaller over those many millions of years since. As the mountains eroded, so did the host rocks containing Lode deposits of Gold and these were carried down these once large and raging rivers and streams and became Placer deposits in the same. To get to these ancient Placer deposits that were carried down river and down stream by the raging waters and deposited in the same, you must dig deeper than 2 feet in the creek beds, stream beds and river beds to get to them. To get to these, you may have to dig 4 feet, 5 feet, 6 feet or even deeper below the level of the stream beds to get to these ancient Placer deposits. You may have read my posting quite awhile back about how my friend who has been Gold prospecting for many, many years would always, jump around in the stream on an LDMA Claim in North Carolina like someone on a Pogo stick, sampling here and sampling there and never getting more than 10 to 15 specks of Gold because he never ever dug more than 2 feet down below the level of the stream bed. However, at the same time he was jumping around sampling all over the place in the stream, I picked one spot which was about 20 yards down stream from a bend in the stream and on the same side as the inside curve or bend of the stream. I decided that I was going to dig as deep as I needed to to find good Gold and it worked. After about 3 to 3 1/2 feet below the level of the stream bed, I started bringing out more and more Gold with each and every shovel. The Gold speck and then flake count went from 10 to 15 specks and some flakes, to 25 to 50 to 75 to 100 specks and flakes of Gold with each shovel. I know this to be true and the case, as my friend was panning out every 6th or 7th shovel full of material that I brought up. After about 3 1/2 feet, I hit a Clay layer and there was still good Gold in the top few inches of the Clay but then went to nothing until I got through the Clay and several inches below it. At a little over 4 feet, I hit another Clay layer with really good amounts of Gold in it but again, the Gold petered to nothing until I got several inches below the Clay. I even hit another Clay layer at almost 5 feet deep below the level of the stream bed but once I got through it, the Gold flake sizes and counts started to skyrocket. Shortly after this, I started getting some small pickers in with the flakes and I knew that I was getting close to bedrock. However, I am standing in a hole of my making that is nearly 3 feet below the level of the stream bed, sinking the shovel as deep as I could go with the water in the stream up to my' nostrils. To make matters worse, while my friend was panning out the material from my latest shovel full, a Copperhead and Black Snake came floating down the stream and right through where I was digging. Needless to say but my friend who is deathly afraid of snakes, got out of the water and has never gone back since and heck, that was like 4 or 5 years ago. I have tried and tried to get him to go back but so far till this day, he refuses. If I had an LDMA Membership, I would be back to the LDMA Claim in a New York minute and dig in that stream to China if need be to get Gold.

I ask that you try a few good spots in a creek, stream and/or river and dig down much further than a mere 1 to 2 feet before you declare that the creek, stream or river has very little Gold and is not worth pursuing any longer.


Frank

 

[MadMarshall]

Let me help you out..Eh? More common to see (people who just dig holes) then Prospectors no doubt Some proclaim themselves Prospectors but most often they are Mistaken... Prospectors Find Gold. Learn how to be a Prospector. You are looking for the most gold in the least amount of material!! That simple.. Read the old Texts on the art of "Loaming" and keep it simple. Their is no need to be worry on the Mining on Gold until you find something worth mining. You learn how to prospect well you will be more valuable then any dredge sluice box ect ect. Stop concerning yourself with averaging and equipment and learn how to find gold!

 

[johnnysau]

The work has been done 150+ years before you, go where gold has been found before !

 

[goldhog]

Ummmm... I'm confused.

I've never said you can dig a small hole and and understand a creek and its gold deposits.
However, you do need to test in RELATION to YOUR type of prospecting.
THAT is really critical.
#1
If you're one person with a shovel I don't think you'll be digging holes that are 6 feet deep down to bedrock.
More than likely you'll be out for a day or two and working river gravels.
So, quickly test which area of river gravels holds the most gold and work those.

If you're dredging... testing is different.
If you're excavating with a equipment........ totally different testing.
Working bedrock cracks... totally different.
So your testing will vary with the area you are in, and type of prospecting and mining you do.

#2
Seeing beyond what you see now.

I constantly say that what you see NOW.... is NOT what the area looked like 1000's and 1000's of years ago.
Example...
Look at the top of a 40 foot tree.
Now imagine a raging river flowing through there that reached the top of the tree.
What you see NOW.... is not a good indicator of what deposited gold on bedrock.

I would watch this video.
Start it at the 5 min 4 sec mark.
Finding Gold Deposits - Mapping Testing Dredge Set Up - YouTube

I talk about BACKING off a map and looking at terrain features.

#3
Each area of the US and world can be VERY different.
Go to Africa and see if you can read deposits there.
They are crazy.
Same with Honduras and Malaysia.
Same with Canada / BC / Alaska / etc.

Now prospect for a month in California.........then come to GA and try.
The deposits, rivers, and creeks are totally different as far as gold deposits and values go.
It's critical to learn YOUR area and how to prospect it.

We'll have over 1600 hours of dive time logged this year alone.
All of this is working down to bedrock, sometimes through 48" of hardpack.
After a while you learn... you just can't LOOK at a place and tell.
You just have to test.

Doc

 

[huntsman53]

Ummmm... I'm confused.

I've never said you can dig a small hole and and understand a creek and its gold deposits.
However, you do need to test in RELATION to YOUR type of prospecting.
THAT is really critical.
#1
If you're one person with a shovel I don't think you'll be digging holes that are 6 feet deep down to bedrock.
More than likely you'll be out for a day or two and working river gravels.
So, quickly test which area of river gravels holds the most gold and work those.

If you're dredging... testing is different.
If you're excavating with a equipment........ totally different testing.
Working bedrock cracks... totally different.
So your testing will vary with the area you are in, and type of prospecting and mining you do.

#2
Seeing beyond what you see now.

I constantly say that what you see NOW.... is NOT what the area looked like 1000's and 1000's of years ago.
Example...
Look at the top of a 40 foot tree.
Now imagine a raging river flowing through there that reached the top of the tree.
What you see NOW.... is not a good indicator of what deposited gold on bedrock.

I would watch this video.
Start it at the 5 min 4 sec mark.
Finding Gold Deposits - Mapping Testing Dredge Set Up - YouTube

I talk about BACKING off a map and looking at terrain features.

#3
Each area of the US and world can be VERY different.
Go to Africa and see if you can read deposits there.
They are crazy.
Same with Honduras and Malaysia.
Same with Canada / BC / Alaska / etc.

Now prospect for a month in California.........then come to GA and try.
The deposits, rivers, and creeks are totally different as far as gold deposits and values go.
It's critical to learn YOUR area and how to prospect it.

We'll have over 1600 hours of dive time logged this year alone.
All of this is working down to bedrock, sometimes through 48" of hardpack.
After a while you learn... you just can't LOOK at a place and tell.
You just have to test.

Doc

Doc,

I am sorry that I used you and your' video that Kiddo posted to counter what he has come to understand and now believes about Gold prospecting and especially so in Georgia! In the video, Kiddo and many other viewers of it, come away with the impression that you should only sample down to say 2 feet below the level of the stream bed because in reality that is what is shown in the video and now, that is what a lot of them believe. As you, I am only trying to get him and others to understand that to find the ancient Placer deposits of Gold, you must know the topography and geology of the area that you are prospecting, know the history of how it all came to be, consider all of these when viewing the terrain and waterways and hopefully come away with an understanding of where to look and what it will take to find the Gold. Most folks didn't and some still don't know that the Appalachian Mountains are the oldest mountains in the world (although there is still some debate between Geologists and Scientists over this), that they once were 5 to 6 miles tall and that when they eroded away, all of that eroded rock...soil and silt had to go somewhere. Well, a lot of that rock...soil and silt, ended up flowing to the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic and either washed away or built up and helped build the coastlines for the Eastern and much of the Southern States. However, a lot of that rock...soil and silt was deposited in and over what were once vast valleys and smaller mountains and created the topography and some of the geology that we see across these areas today. That during the erosion of theses high mountains over the millions of years since, that lower areas down stream and down river, were covered with hundreds and sometimes thousands of feet (in depth) of rock, soil and silt brought down from those same mountains. They need to understand that during this erosion process, Lode Gold was eroded out and also brought down those same streams and rivers and was deposited as Placer Gold across some of the valleys and in many of the creeks, streams and rivers that we prospect on today but at the same time, other Lode Gold deposits were covered over and buried deep in the ground. They also need to understand that while you can dig 1 to 2 feet down in some of these creeks, streams and rivers and get some Gold, you really need to dig much deeper to get to the ancient Placer Gold deposits that were deposited thousands, hundreds of thousands and even millions of years ago and which still lie in the ancient Tertiary and Alluvial stream gravels and on bedrock. However, to get to some of those long buried Lode Gold deposits, you may need a major mining operation...heavy equipment and all of the permits...paperwork and other red tape that goes along with a large Gold mining operation.

I am sorry that in all this, that you may have felt that myself and maybe others were trying to put a spotlight on your' back! That was not the intention and please understand that in shortening a Video production by cutting short the taping or recording of certain sequences...processes or events or editing things out, can sometimes be detrimental to the idea and information you are trying to purvey!


Frank

 

[goldhog]

Not a problem or issue at all.....


It's a LONG learning process and the fact you and others take the time to help here is the most important thing.
Just wanted to make sure that one point was clear.

I'm just glad not to be driving today....
Think my butt has been in that driver's seat the last 16 hours.