Searching for gold on google earth/maps

[gold hound]

When u guys are scouting an area to prospect and looking at google earth or other maps of the terrain... What catches your eye the most? Obviously u want to be in gold bearing area, but I'm talking more of the geological formations or fault lines etc.. I've been looking at the obvious. Gulches,canyons, ledges/ benches by gold bearing gultches etc.. I guess my problem is, I don't really want to go where every other prospector has been. I'm wanting to trying to think out side of the Box and explore remote and hard to access locations. But,on the other hand I don't want to exert all the effort to come back empty handed. They say no risks, no rewards... I've learned a lot on this websight, and I'm not afraid to ask for help.
I feel that in order to be successful, u need to be around successful people. Then comes the education u receive by being around those people. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks

 

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[Bonaro]

Put down the kool-aid there dude… contrary to what your masters have told you, there's still many thousands of acres (at least here in AZ there is) of gold bearing land out there that has never seen a pick or a shovel. That I know for a fact!

I seriously doubt that. While you may feel like the piece of dirt you have found is virginal in every way, it simply does not stand to logic, at all. During the gold rush there were many 10's of thousands of prospectors combing the mountains and deserts. You can count on the fact that several looked at your spot, maybe even worked it. Everything was wide open back then, no parks, no protected areas...gold was where you found it. It may have been passed up for richer ground but if you think it never saw a pick or shovel, maybe you are the one who has had too much kool-aid.

 

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[azblackbird]

I seriously doubt that. While you may feel like the piece of dirt you have found is virginal in every way, it simply does not stand to logic, at all.

You might want to study up on your history there fellow… contrary to popular belief that every square inch of gold bearing ground has been prospected at one time or the other, is simply not true.

If you knew your history, you'd know that the majority of gold bearing ground was discovered totally by accident, and not by somebody out specifically prospecting for it. There's a reason why they call it a "Gold Rush"… think about it! Those that kept their mouths shut fared very well, those that didn't… ehhhh not so much. I prospect the areas that somebody kept their mouths shut… it appears by your writings that you like to prospect areas that every Tom, Dick, and Harry has prospected at one time or another. To each his own.

 

[IMPDLN]

A couple notes of observation. First of all when looking at Google Earth, sometimes older scans have better resolution in certain areas so use the history tab and look at the last 3 or 4 scans to see the same area in different light. Also scans are done at different times of the year and times of day so don't just look at the most current scans and you might acquire more valuable info using this tactic.

Now a little insight into yesterday compared with today and prospecting. The old time real prospectors were few and far between. Most people in the old days followed the discoveries. The true prospectors certainly knew what they where doing and had a very thorough way of prospecting. Maybe as few as one guy in 100,000 really new how to find valuable deposits. Then maybe 1 in 100 was able to keep his findings secret. Many deposits certainly found by accident often became big news fast and got worked out even faster.

Certainly the most obvious and richest deposits found where exploited to the best of the abilities of the miners at that particular time. Certainly many miners spent many years in the pursuit of riches. Most never found much at all. Very few ever got rich. Many true full time prospectors had nothing but time and spent their entire lives covering the ground the best they could with the simple tools and resources they had available.

Was every inch of ground prospected? Not likely. Certainly most of the ground in known gold areas has been at least looked at. Certainly minor deposits that held value are left behind because at the time they aren't deemed to have enough value to meet the prudent man rule.

Now in the modern age there are still very few of us that really know how to actually locate a valuable deposit of minerals. Certainly the easy and obvious deposits have been found long ago. However there are still discoveries to be made out there. Some might have been discovered and forgotten. Some may have been discovered and left behind because they aren't rich enough to have been profitable at the time. Some have certainly just been missed or overlooked. We do have modern tools such as metal detectors which do however give us an advantage not available to the old time prospectors. Some deposits are certainly still buried with no obvious signs on the surface. Some may have been exposed recently because of erosion.

Certainly man has had boots on the ground on so very much of the existing exposed soil. Not all of those men knew what to look for. Not all deposits are obvious, and certainly erosion has changed the surface in the last 150 or so years. There are even rivers that still today have never been prospected at depth because of the equipment limitations.

In closing, to think that everything has at one time or another been discovered or even prospected is rather incorrect thinking in my opinion. The soil on this planet is constantly being rearranged and eroded. Any future rock slide could reveal a huge unknown deposit. Ancient deposits could be buried anyplace yet to be discovered. The next guy to dig a foundation with a backhoe could expose an unknown deposit tomorrow.

I myself will continue to search with an open mind and I suggest others do the same. You never can tell when or where the next big discovery may come from. It might be the next target any one of us digs with a metal detector, or the next ground breaking to build a new skyscraper. Dennis

 

[GrizzlyGremlin]

Google earth is great. I use the map function with the terrain layer for contour lines only and find the flat spots

 

[russau]

Son of a *****, I think we are related Gold Hound! Sorry I couldn't help myself

Being in Kansas City there are special considerations I would think. (I'll assume you are looking near Missouri or Kansas.) I'm not familiar with glacial gold deposits but you should be. What I would look for in So Cal would be an entirely different set of signs.

I'm sure you've heard of http://highplainsprospectors. This blog page taught me more than I'll ever need to know on the subject. That's in Kansas but both States have similar geology, I think. Clicked on those maps to see more.

"Since gold in Missouri was deposited by glaciation in roughly the northern 1/3 of the state, most success will be found in these areas. Charriton River has placer gold that can be panned. Other rivers worthy of investigation include the North Fabius, Mussel Fork, Grand, Thompson, and Platte River. It is likely that all of these rivers as well as tributaries could have small amounts of gold present, as well as the Missouri River. Gold is likely to be extremely fine, so careful panning will be required."

Here's an area where we overlap. I look for out of place boulders in order to ID old river channels here in California. According to what I just learned you should be looking for out of place glacial material. Boulders that said “Yeeehaawww!” as they rode in ice from South Dakota, possibly pushing the gold along as it went. When you go out to known gold/glacial moraine areas go back and look on your map (you do have a map) to see what it looks like. Fill in the logical gaps between known areas and try to confirm from observation. I've marked a couple spots on your new map. I have no idea if they are any good. Use gullies, bridge crossings, and road-cuts to see below grade where you can.Pay attention to where current streams cut through where the ice retreated. See how far downstream there is quartz or glacial material.

Good luck!

thanks for this post! this is a good link for people wanting to look for gold in Kansas and Missouri. PLUS these owners belong to our GPAA club in the K.C. area!

 

[azblackbird]

Most people in the old days followed the discoveries. The true prospectors certainly knew what they where doing and had a very thorough way of prospecting. Maybe as few as one guy in 100,000 really new how to find valuable deposits. Then maybe 1 in 100 was able to keep his findings secret. Many deposits certainly found by accident often became big news fast and got worked out even faster.

Ironically not much has changed. The majority of modern day gold buffs are still following the discoveries of yore… all competing to get that last little flake.

Like you said, there are very few prospectors who really know how to get out and search for new and undiscovered areas. I'm still learning a lot myself in knowing what I need to look for, and what would likely constitute productive ground. All the research and work that goes into finding new ground is part of the fun anyways. Finding gold or any other valuable minerals on the ground that you've spent time researching and exploring is just an added bonus.