Give me some perspective please

[Superdum]

I am new to all this really and I know that this is just a hotspot and not necessarily indicative of all the ground in this area but I did the math and it would appear that I am on about a gram per yard at my current location.

That seems like pretty rich ground to me but I don't really have anything to compare it to. How would you explain the potential of this site to the laymen?

 

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[Goldwasher]

You're gonna have to give a lot more info than that.

whats your math. Sample sources size. over how much of an area.

Just bank run? Bottom layer? From cracks?

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

Yes looking forward to hearing your story....
Details?

 

[Superdum]

You're gonna have to give a lot more info than that.

whats your math. Sample sources size. over how much of an area.

Just bank run? Bottom layer? From cracks?

It's a small creek. The running water is only about 15 feet wide and knee deep at the moment. The whole creek bed is about 30 to 40 yards wide with small rock and mid sized boulders. The creek runs in the valley between 2 steep hills. The valley is flat and about 200 yards wide. The reason I asked this is that you can see a distinct layer of river gravels in the bank that runs the length of the entire creek below about 3 feet of top soil.. There are tiny washes through the flat and you can see that the gravels continue even another 50 yards into the woods on either side.

My theory is that the creek has deposited gravels every where in the flat over the last 11,000 years. If the gold holds out at this rate through all the gravels that have been deposited, there are millions of dollars in gold there. Unfortunately, laws say I can't dig in the bank at this spot so there is no way to test my theory. Maybe I can dig in one of the washes to see if there is gold there but we are only allowed to dig where water typically flows.

It would be feasible that my current area is 100 yards wide and 100 yards long and that's being very conservative on size. I am currently digging down to a clay layer and stopping there. There is no bedrock that I can see. The gavel layer in the bank is 3 to 4 feet thick. I have found 5 specks per pan in 3 different places on the creek but some places I haven't found any. Probably did 20 test pans before landing on my current spot. I ran 4 to 5 5 gallon buckets, classified to quarter inch and got 0.2g yesterday.

 

[Bonaro]

Sounds like you are targeting the flood gold. Fine particles that wash up in high water events. This stuff could literally be everywhere and is hard to predict. Are there any obstructions like boulders, river bends or dips in the clay/bedrock that you can see?
.2g is about 15-20 bucks and pretty thin for being worth it. Can you step up to a sluice or some kind of classifier that recirculates to increase production?

 

[Superdum]

Sounds like you are targeting the flood gold. Fine particles that wash up in high water events. This stuff could literally be everywhere and is hard to predict. Are there any obstructions like boulders, river bends or dips in the clay/bedrock that you can see?
.2g is about 15-20 bucks and pretty thin for being worth it. Can you step up to a sluice or some kind of classifier that recirculates to increase production?

I have a small river sluice. I got 70 flakes of gold out of 2 buckets. The day before I did the same. It amounted to .2g total. Google says .67 cubic feet in a 5 gallon bucket so that makes about 40 buckets to a yard. That says my spot is running 2 grams per yard. Is that good?

I'm sure I'm working flood gold but this area should have flood gold throughout the entire valley I would think. I have found gold on every gravel bar that I tested. I'm just working the best spot I found right now.

Maybe I need to work a not so good spot and make and average between locations.

 

[Bodfish Mike]

Your first post says "I am new to all this really" sounds to me like you have a very good grasp on this.
So if you run 10 buckets you'll get 1/2 gram -- 10 buckets is about my limit for one day.
I'll dig for 1/2 a gram.
Cheers Mike

 

[Superdum]

I'm new to digging. I've been planning this for about 10 years. I've watched every show and read forums an online research for that long. My area has no gold geology. all the gold that is here was pushed here by the glaciers during the ice age. I thought I would find a couple of specks at most. I never thought I could actually find a measurable amount

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

Have you found any silver while panning? Those glaciers carry in more than just gold.

 

[Superdum]

Have you found any silver while panning? Those glaciers carry in more than just gold.

Maybe...I don't even know what it looks like lol.

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

Keep your eye out, you will know silver when you see it in your pan.
I’ve never found any, but I wouldn’t rule it out. Round my area, you will find a piece of platinum every once in a while, but it’s not from glaciers.

How about a couple pictures of your operation without giving the location away?
Always like to see other people getting some gold.

If it’s worth your time and it keeps you coming back, it’s a good deposit.
Current price of gold doesn’t hurt either...right?

 

[Superdum]

https://imgur.com/a/Y8FDXQc

Yesterday's take and my first picker.

https://imgur.com/a/PJcqMOw

My sluice with a flake of gold and my inside bend.

 

[Reed Lukens]

Make sure that those riffles are held tight to the carpet. Some of the old Royal sluices needed modifying.

 

[Superdum]

Make sure that those riffles are held tight to the carpet. Some of the old Royal sluices needed modifying.

I'm not catching a lot of fine gold so either I am running it in water that is too fast or putting too much dirt in at a time. It could also be that there just isn't alot of fine stuff here...I don't know. It's a learning curve thing for sure.

I don't think it seats well on the carpet in the front because of the expanded metal. Should I remove the expanded metal or maybe hang it off the tail end a bit more so the riffles can get a better bite?

 

[Reed Lukens]

Just drill a hole through the first riffle and the sluice to bolt it down tight.

 

[arizau]

I'm not catching a lot of fine gold so either I am running it in water that is too fast or putting too much dirt in at a time. It could also be that there just isn't alot of fine stuff here...I don't know. It's a learning curve thing for sure.

I don't think it seats well on the carpet in the front because of the expanded metal. Should I remove the expanded metal or maybe hang it off the tail end a bit more so the riffles can get a better bite?

One other consideration for you is to perhaps lessen the angle of the sluice in fast water. As long as you do not pack the riffles your recovery could/should(?) improve.

Good luck

 

[crumbaker]

What state is this, and what exactly do they consider a "bank". I know in some it's below the water line which opens up a lot of area in the summer.

 

[et1955]

Have you tested your tailings from the sluice ?. That will be your indicator if you are running the sluice properly.

 

[Superdum]

What state is this, and what exactly do they consider a "bank". I know in some it's below the water line which opens up a lot of area in the summer.

Ohio...the language is rather vague and it's not particularly illegal to dig in the bank from what I understand. It's just frowned upon because undercut banks can be dangerous to others using the area. I just stay to the parts of the creek that I am sure that high water would reclaim for me.

 

[Superdum]

I tried to do a loss test yesterday and failed miserably. The water was high so I was having trouble getting my sluice placed just right. The place I found didn't provide room for a catch pan.

I got 0.1g yesterday