Bedrock and gold

[Bandmenter]

I live in Iowa and I have a question about gold getting to the bedrock. Logic would tell me that if there is gold in the river and the bedrock is not that deep from the stream bed you could have gold driven to the bedrock. My question is how does this occur, is it by the water flow removing the lighter material and leaving the gold behind. As time passes, floods occur, etc, carries off more lighter material again leaving the gold behind. Here in Iowa we have mostly flour gold and bedrock 10 to 15 feet below the stream bed, would this likely mean the there could be larger gold deeper towards bedrock or even on the bedrock. Just curious.

Bill

 

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[arizau]

I/we could go into a long dissertation but just do your own research here to get a basic understanding on how placers are formed. https://www.google.com/webhp?source...v=2&ie=UTF-8#q=how+are+placer+deposits+formed
Your area is not noted as a classic placer gold area since the gold deposited is from very broad glaciation and the gold veins that were eroded were probably in Canada. A classic placer has it's gold source uphill and/or upstream from the placer deposits and they are usually fairly close eg. not hundreds and hundreds of miles away.

Good luck

 

[deserdog]

Not too long of an explanation. Most of the gold arrived inthe glacial till. Not sorted at all. As the material is eroded into streams and rivers, the gold does not move as easily as the lighter material, and naturally starts to settle down until it can go no further.

 

[Kuntzy]

if you can get to bedrock you should find chunkier gold. Here in southern Indiana its usually 10-12 ft to bedrock. I have found great gold on bedrock.
if you don't have a dredge with air then you will need a small water pump to get the water out of your hole as you work down.

thats what i do a least.. dig giant hole and pump the water out so i can work the material.

 

[Bandmenter]

Kuntzy, that's what I was driving at. The gold did not arrive in the last storm and any gold that is there could be driven to bedrock over the centuries. I was just trying to see if I'm thinking correctly and is it possible that there could be larger gold the deeper one goes. I am going to be building a suction dredge after the high banker is complete, too much work, not enough time. Story of my life. When you are digging, are you digging out the bank or dredging the river bed? Just curious.

 

[Hoser John]

Gold miners make the bedrock or go bust. Follow those paystreaks and profit-John

 

[Kuntzy]

I personally follow the inside gravel bars. i rarely did in the main river channel.

 

[Kuntzy]

hey if you ever need help just shout! i love to travel for gold!

 

[Kuntzy]

my best cleanup from hitting bedrock was 7 grams here in southern IN. you should have the same glaicial drift there also. and that was 7 grams in 3 days of diggin my butt off to get to bedrock..