Just swing away in the creek?

[Ghalt]

MDing Newbie here.

I have a White's Prizm III. Never pursued anything other than coins and a few relics.

But I have a friend of mine that owns 300 acres in an area that was once known for its gold mines (before the Union army destroyed them all).

He has a few streams on the property.

It seems to me it might be worth checking them out. So, what's the right way to start out? Should I just swing my Prizm through the stream until I start picking up signals?

(I'm thinking of using the MD before just starting to pan somewhere...)

Thoughts?

Thanks!

[El Cooter]

Well, the Prizm wont do you much good unless the target is large! Get a gold detector if you want to prospect.
Check out the GMT or Gold Bug and good luck!!!!





Cooter

[warsawdaddy]

You're doing it backwards.You should pan first to find a likely place.

[Hoser John]

A better detector would be nice BUT any detector beats a pan !! You are checking about a half a cubic foot of ground--A SECOND-no pan can do 1/1000 as much. You are also looking for areas that send that detector absolutely crazy !! You've just found the righteous black sand deposits that gold REALLY likes to hide in. Get a pocket fulla poker chips and drop 1 at each good hit,then come back with a shovel and chuck it in a bucket. By NOT stopping and playing the dig and split game-time consuming egocentric waste a time-you process 10X the hits--get all the gold that you miss when looking for the big one only. Use a sluice box to run the bucket and you'll have plenty of time to get the gold!! GOLDEN RULE A MINING-HE WHO PROCESSES THE MOST GRAVELS-WINS!!!!!!!!!! Tons a au 2 u 2-John

[EARTHLING]

ACTUALLY............... you should do what is called POST HOLING first.... if you dont know what this is ASK.... it will help you to locate alluvial and bench deposits faster..... you should really only pan if you are going to dredge...... POST HOLING will be your best bet and then take all your post hole finding and retort or amalgamate them when you get home....... DO NOT EVER use mercury or acids anywhere out in the field you can destroy a lot of area quick

[EARTHLING]

ACTUALLY............... you should do what is called POST HOLING first.... if you dont know what this is ASK.... it will help you to locate alluvial and bench deposits faster..... you should really only pan if you are going to dredge...... POST HOLING will be your best bet and then take all your post hole finding and retort or amalgamate them when you get home....... DO NOT EVER use mercury or acids anywhere out in the field you can destroy a lot of area quick

I will have to disagree with everything in this post except for the non-use of hg,as well as some acids;i.e.-sulfuric,hydrochloric,nitric,phosphoric or other above 8N in the field.

really....... why is that??

[kuger]

ACTUALLY............... you should do what is called POST HOLING first.... if you dont know what this is ASK.... it will help you to locate alluvial and bench deposits faster..... you should really only pan if you are going to dredge...... POST HOLING will be your best bet and then take all your post hole finding and retort or amalgamate them when you get home....... DO NOT EVER use mercury or acids anywhere out in the field you can destroy a lot of area quick

I have my ideas of what you mean by "post holing",doesnt sound like much fun n cobble!Why wouldnt you pan your spoils?The pan is the basis to any operation or prospect!And do you know what retort and amagamate is?

[EARTHLING]

im not offended in any way.... the very last sentence of your reply says everything..... i am going to NM in about 2 weeks and i will report my findings with pics and video...... cant wait............ i dont worry about what anyone thinks of the way i do things...... i always get the gold.... i am waiting on some specialized shovel and other things to get here....

[mirkaba]

Should I just swing my Prizm through the stream until I start picking up signals?

Hmmmm Where to start?!?! Since there was gold in the area I would do a little research first. Try to ascertain whether there was gold found or mined in the immediate vicinity. That done look around. See if you can locate any signs of prior work. Pits, trenches, odd holes, spoil piles etc. Get a good basic geology book and a book on gold deposition. Never stop learning. A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.............Bob