Higher Gold Deposits

[SchoolOfHardRocks]

Crevicing bedrock pockets has been my most successful form of prospecting both under the water and out. Most of the time I either snipe under the water in the summer months and hover around the water line during the colder winter months when the water is too cold/ fast to snipe underwater in.

I have friends and know that others work higher areas and do pretty well (usually below the high water line). What I've always wondered was: If over millions of years, the river has been eroding it's way down through the mountains to it's present level. Does that mean that placer gold can be anywhere from the top to the bottom of the canyon?

I know there are other factors that play into where gold can be on a mountain side like ancient river channels, veins, etc... but can there be placer deposits from the current river's historic levels deposited as well? Please help satisfy my curiosity

 

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[KevinInColorado]

Crevicing bedrock pockets has been my most successful form of prospecting both under the water and out. Most of the time I either snipe under the water in the summer months and hover around the water line during the colder winter months when the water is too cold/ fast to snipe underwater in.

I have friends and know that others work higher areas and do pretty well (usually below the high water line). What I've always wondered was: If over millions of years, the river has been eroding it's way down through the mountains to it's present level. Does that mean that placer gold can be anywhere from the top to the bottom of the canyon?

I know there are other factors that play into where gold can be on a mountain side like ancient river channels, veins, etc... but can there be placer deposits from the current river's historic levels deposited as well? Please help satisfy my curiosity

Generally speaking, yes! In Clear Creek Canyon here in CO, there are bench deposits 60 feet above the current creek level on the cliff sides. Of course in many cases most of that material gets washed back down into the current water flow but yes, your intuition is right.

In another area I've drywashed river gravels that are over 100 feet above the current river levels and over a mile from the current channel! Often those higher deposits were impractical for the original miners to work and therefore can have virgin deposits.

 

[Goldwasher]

Short answer is DUH

 

[Goldwasher]

I'm just teasing I'm only on break or I'd give a better answer

 

[SchoolOfHardRocks]

Thanks Kevin, makes sense. I understand bench deposits are usually found by identifying flat "benches" on the sides of the canyon. I'm guessing this is where the better gold could be found on canyon sides.

But may gold also be in non-flat areas as well? If theoretically it once was the river bottom?

 

[goldenmojo]

In the areas that you are prospecting near there was a paleo river valley that went through successive build up of volcanic material that originated from NE Nevada followed by periods of erosion. The PV went through what is the center of Lake Tahoe and the epsilon would scour away parts of the valley leaving areas of gravels capped. The valley would fill and then scour but not always at the same location. This left stepped down benches of capped auriferous gravels. There are still areas where these have not been worked.

 

[Lanny in AB]

There is sometimes a line above which no gold on the upper slopes was ever found. If you can ID this level through research, that will save you a lot of time.

Having said that, it pays to research your area carefully, and if you find examples of higher benches that were paying, have at it! I've got some beautiful gold from high benches, stranded channels, buried channels, etc. But, my area is heavily glaciated, so that just throws a huge wild card into the mix as well. In California, you may not have the same worries. The deposition sounds a bit different from reading goldenmojo's post.

So, the short answer, yes there could be gold from the very top to the very bottom, more often in my area it seems there was a line that no gold was recovered from above that point, but in some cases that line is hundreds of feet up the canyon wall!

All the best with your hunt and research,

Lanny

 

[KevinInColorado]

Thanks Kevin, makes sense. I understand bench deposits are usually found by identifying flat "benches" on the sides of the canyon. I'm guessing this is where the better gold could be found on canyon sides.

But may gold also be in non-flat areas as well? If theoretically it once was the river bottom?

Benches are not necessarily flat at all, often erosion changes the land shape extensively. Look for river cobbles and gravel running horizontally along a hillside...that's a bench.

 

[pczim]

What I like to do is guess where the river was thousands of years ago, dig until you find smooth rocks and work that area.

 

[winners58]

when looking for old tertiary stream channels sometimes it just looks like dirt but looking closer you will see small pieces of white quartz.

The Tertiary Gravels of the Sierra Nevada of California
https://books.google.com/books?id=c...ce=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

[Goldwasher]

Also don't forget where we are there are NUMEROUS gold bearing quartz outcroppings. And gold coming from shear zones in the slates and shists. I look at flowing water ways as concentrators and try to know as many of the potential source types as I can. In the foothills we have several thousand feet of elevation gain before i would ever consider being ABOVE gold!

 

[Lanny in AB]

Also don't forget where we are there are NUMEROUS gold bearing quartz outcroppings. And gold coming from shear zones in the slates and shists. I look at flowing water ways as concentrators and try to know as many of the potential source types as I can. In the foothills we have several thousand feet of elevation gain before i would ever consider being ABOVE gold!

Every area's deposition methods are different. Where I've been mining for the last while, with glacial redeposition the Oldtimer's worked very hard to find the line above which no paying quantities of gold could be found. Moreover, research is very crucial when chasing these ancient channels' pay-lines.

Thanks for the insight on your particular area as it sounds like you are lucky enough to have lots of either eroded veins or quartz-gold veins in place extending thousands of feet up in elevation. In the area I'm currently working, with glacial redeposition, it becomes serious detective work to locate the precious metal as the gold has been dozed, scooped, and relocated by massive glaciers or gigantic glacial rivers sometimes very far indeed from its primary origin.

That's why every time I visit a new goldfield, I have to start all over again to learn the specifics of deposition to help me chase the gold in the unfamiliar region.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[SchoolOfHardRocks]

As I've been reading miner journals from a link that GoldenMojo sent I learned that oftentimes the old timers would dig ravines out 3' from the center of the ravine in both directions (left & right) but would usually stop there. I wonder how much good gold may be 4'-5' from the center of ravines in California gold country. Or could some gold have replenished in the ravines since it's been worked by the old timers, maybe they missed some?

Anyway I enjoy imagining the endless possibilities in gold country, but will never KNOW until I check things out myself. A good lesson learned a few weeks ago with a prospecting buddy of mine taught me that sometimes you just have to chuck out what you think and what makes sense and just check things out yourself. Everyone might make the same assumptions that you have- leaving that sweet chunkie gold just sitting there waiting...

 

[goldenmojo]

The first throng of miners hit the ravine centers and then moved to other spots leaving further out to be prospected by the next wave of miners. As Goldwasher says there are outcrops and eroded seams to be searched out. This is where you will probably do best This means boots on the ground hiking searching and sampling areas that have been researched from historical, geological and access data. A bigger payday awaits at the end of that trail than the regular payout of color on a weekend sluicing run.

 

[Goldwasher]

In little ravines you will see "scarp" where the old timers dug over and made an unnatural "escarpment". In a natural ravine it will slope down gradually to a small rivulet...runnel...brook....creek .....If your out looking around in gold country and come across a drop to a drainage be suspicious. Especially if you notice gravels. In my are there are no gravel deposits. Just the situation described above. you can tell the bottom of the canyon was worked from the center to a certain margin of the creekside material. You can see visually and tell by whats on my claim down stream that those short little sum*****es broke the slate down a good three feet, leaving only a few hard sections above current(1849-50) grade. Several hundred square feet of Anglo handstacks and a three foot space to the scarp where they stopped digging. There are cuts, digs and dithes all over the hillside above I have found several broken pick points and only one opium tin. the chinese didn't work there. But some sailor visited their camp upstream

 

[goldenmojo]

It appears that I need to pick up some cold refreshments and make my way over to your place so I can get an onsite lesson in all of that.

 

[Asmbandits]

Some of my best and largest gold has come from high out of the water, usually where exposed bedrock ends. Also small pockets high out of the water with light blond sands have held some of my best finds. I don't know if it is that most overlook these spots given the blond sand or what, but ive hit a few that have held up to a gram in as little as a pans full of sand and leaves. There is a area on the middle fork called Cherokee Bar where the old timers dug some 50 feet inland to find cracks in the bedrock and then broke away until a small crack turned into 10 foot deep by 3 foot wide and in some cases as long as a football field. These channels run up the hill side and if you look closely follow the natural ravines in most cases. Its very evident on google earth if you look for it and is a great way to actually see how the old timers worked some of these deposits.

 

[Goldwasher]

Dans already harrasing me! I'm going down Sunday he says he wants to go. I'll be going regardless of rain. More water than when you went down with Matt. Ever seen 15ft of gold hog before? Me either.......it's happening

 

[goldenmojo]

Well after Dan finally gets finished harassing you give me a call. If your running 15' of Goldhog won't be much time for any splainin anyhow......

 

[Goldwasher]

Well after Dan finally gets finished harassing you give me a call. If your running 15' of Goldhog won't be much time for any splainin anyhow......

Heck it will take all the buckets we can give it and no running motor...its just plain pleasant. there will be time for Splannin and shootin the Bull. ill give you a call this afternoon.