Help with Clay layers in a creek.

[newbAu]

Hey all.

This creek I am working has produced lots of interesting stuff. There are lots of gravel deposits. I keep finding these layers and need a little help.

First layer is gravel,sand and cobble, dig a few more inches I get dark grey gravel and grey clay with lots of cobble mixed in, which is where I am getting most of my gold from. A huge rock I am working made me curious and I dug deeper through the grey gravel layer and hit a yellow clay layer a few inches below the grey clay layer. The yellow layer is about 2-3 ft deep.

I have found the yellow clay before but every time I get that deep its time to head out. I notice when I get passed the grey stuff I don't see as much color, but I am curious if it will get better in the yellow layer.

Does anyone have any experience with the different layers I am seeing?
Thanks in advance!

 

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[Kuntzy]

if the clay if full of cobble i work it. if its thick slabs i scrape the top of it into bucket and toss the rest. the clay layers around here are gray and blue. no experience with the yellow.

in my area i can sometimes find 4-5 clay layers going down. some will have gold some will not. test panning is the only way to know

 

[mikep691]

Years back, I worked a dry area that had an orange or yellow clay layer. It was a lot of work mashing it with a potato masher, but I found some of the coursest gold I've found. It was sharp edged, not water worn, and not enough for the effort. Since clay acts as a false bedrock, I'd definitely sample the top of each clay layer you encounter, then go deeper if you're not getting much color. It's possible that each layer represents a different period in history and each could hold gold.

 

[newbAu]

The yellow clay is definitely a lot harder to work with than the grey, I found this layer trying to find the creek bottom, but I just keep finding different layers. I will isolate the yellow stuff next time I find it. Last time it got mixed in with the other classified material. Like I said every time I find yellow clay its time to pack up. Hopefully I can find it again soon!

 

[newbAu]

I have found some blueish colored clay also in my adventures, which has produced some color as well.

 

[mikep691]

bluish usually indicates some silver, but not in all cases
Could just be muck.

 

[Kuntzy]

I dig thru the clay layers untill i hit a big one. By that i mean a clay layer 2-5 inches thick and completely solid. Gold will sit on a solid thick clay but will seep thru light clay. Every thick layer of clay acts as false bedrock. My area only has the thick solid layers of clay in years with no big floods. During a big flood it all gets mixed up again and it all goes back to the heavies settle first.

 

[Bejay]

Clay Diggins should be the expert offering comment!

Bejay

 

[newbAu]

Thanks everyone!
I'll just keep on digging and sampling, when I can get out.

 

[goldenmojo]

If you are experiencing lots of gravel as you dig down and the color of the clay changes into a different layer with less or no gravel you want to make sure that you pay attention to the contact point between the two layers. If there is gold in the gravel it will make its way down and can sometimes significantly accumulate at the sterile clay color change ( false bedrock). If you have multiple layers take one layer at a time and work that and note the exact differences in the layers. Also within each layer check right left upstream downstream. There can be a paystreak or ribbon lain down in a specific area and sometimes within a specific clay layer. The more you investigate while you are learning instead of just digging for color the quicker you will learn to recognize what is going on in your dig. Every pan is a test pan.