Help figuring out deposit

[Thepiratestumpy]

New to forum/help with figuring combo deposit
Hello,? I am new to any mining or treasure forum but I am having trouble figuring out a deposit on my land. I am in NC in Moore county and I am finding gold ind small quantities literally everywhere I dig on our 50 acres. I am sure it's gold, no question there, but as I learn about geology I am realizing that this is a very complex situation. I sit at the connection of two smaller faults, and I am finding gold in the low lying areas as well as on the highest hills on my land, which are the second highest in the area. The gold gets slightly bigger up the hills but I am pulling ore with SOME visible gold from the creek in the bottom. This ore can be as large as 7" across. I believe the bottoms used to be underwater but I am not sure if the nature of the water because the ocean apparently used to come all the way to about 20 miles from my location. Because of all this I believe it is a combination eluvial/alluvial deposit. My issue is that up until a couple months ago all I did was dredge placer deposits in a creek about 3 miles through the woods. I am just not sure if finding gold everywhere in the top 8ft of dirt is normal for this type of depsit or should I test until I find a better spot. I feel like I just need to go deeper but I hit some kind of rock (a gritty grey stone with very small particles that I think is tuff) between 3 and 8ft down. I can break it with my backhoe most of the time but I can't decide if it's some kind of cap and there is better dirt below it or if I'm just digging a type of softer bedrock. The older mines in the area found gold in quartz veins associated with tuff. The used both shafts and open cuts usually about 30deep by 12 wide by 30 long. The land has been farmed so any outcropping has been removed long ago so I am having a hard time zeroing in on the source. I am kind of hoping to just get some ideas thrown around so I can continue to investigate with fresh perspectives. Thanks for all your help in advance!

 

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[Buckshotnc]

Finding gold everywhere you dig is not normal and a lot of land owners would love to have that scenario. Would recommend you have a geologist take a look and get their idea about how to proceed, the folks at Haile Gold Mine would be one of the first people that I would reach out to because their geologists should be knowledgeable in this area.

 

[Thepiratestumpy]

Thanks for the reply. I tried talking to the state geologist, but first he told me there was
No gold where I am, despite the detailed documented history of several gold mines in the immediate area. But then he seemed real interested when he realized we were close to good fracking area. Of course I would only tell him a general area and not detailed info on my location. I have a 3rd generation professional prospector and gold mine owner helping me, but even she is a bit overwhelmed. The problem is that if I were running 100 tons an hour I'd be doing well, but I'm pushing 10-20 yards a day depending on the dirt and it's clay content. Some of the clay is the thickest grey clay I've ever seen. We also have blue and a light greenish clay. Historically a lot of Potters moved to this area for the clays. My biggest issue with the clays is about 60% have gravels in them but that's where my biggest pieces came from. I don't expect to get rich, but I would like to think that with the standard being there is always some gold,(usually less than a gram), that there are better pockets somewhere out here. I'm also starting to think that there is more gold in my rocks than in my dirt. But I'm still only 9ft deep at best, and for gold that isn't in a stream bed that's pretty shallow. I think finding a local geologist is a good idea. I will try that. I'm trying to be fairly careful about this whole situation because I know how people can be. I also decided the other day that I would get some cons and other material assayed to see if I am looking more at microscopic gold in quantity and that's why it seems like I'm not finding much. Thanks again for your input I was wondering if anyone was going to respond. I know what I describe is abnormal and sounds like I either don't know what I'm doing/finding, or I am totally full of it. I cannot explain what is going on here, it is obviously a complex reason behind this deposit. I would not be reaching out to the internet if I wasn't pretty befuddled about it and anything that can help explain it is very much appreciated at this point.

 

[starsplitter]

I found your post intriguing. Since it has been a while, perhaps an update? Thanks.

 

[starsplitter]

I found your post intriguing. Since it has been a while, perhaps an update? Thanks.

PS: In the event it might be helpful:

https://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/ncmaps/id/316/rec/3

 

[Thepiratestumpy]

I found your post intriguing. Since it has been a while, perhaps an update? Thanks.

PS: In the event it might be helpful:

https://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/ncmaps/id/316/rec/3

Starsplitter- since the original post I have determined that the gold is all so small because of a leaching that occurred. Sulphuric leaching to be specific. I think the widespread distribution of gold has more to so with an actual volcanic event in which gold was tossed through the air and happened to land evenly(ish) on this property. I dont think the gold was ever very big, but the sulphur in the water partially leached ot and made it smaller. That would mean that if i could get down far enough, and leaching was legal in nc, then i could possibly find more by chemical process. I did hit one pocket over the last couple years that put out 30 small pieces in 1 gallon of crushed ore. It the went back to normal. 1 fly speck per yard average. I belive the natural sulphuric leaching is also what caused the limonite to break down to almost a packed powder in some veins. After several years, the juice wasnt worth the sqeeze, so i started going back to the creek a few miles down the road and dredging. I am actually currently looking for property with better gold on it as well. The creek always puts out pretty good but it aint no living-lol. More like a hobby that pays for gas, lunch, and a little shiny in the poke. It kills me to be limited by high water. But i reckon id rather live to mine another day. I do belive i am getting close to a source on the river(there are many) due to finding a couple nuggets and specimens last year in the same hole. Just put the air back on my dredge so i can hit the deeper pool just upstream from where i am now because theres an outcropping about 150 yards upstreamon the outer edge of a bend, and oddly ther better area in that spot is also the outer edge of the same long sweeping bend(whereas normally better gold would be on the inside of the bend. So this summer/fall i will be working where i know theres good gold. No competition out here, so i can work methodically and not worry about people jumping in once ive removed the gravels down to bedrock(which i have actually found another gold bearing vein several miles downstream but lost access due to a change in ownership).
In the end there is gold on the farm but due to geologic processes and sulphuric meteoric water the deposit is much too complex and difficult for a small timer to do anything with it. I learned alot from it but i also had to learn to move on.

 

[Thepiratestumpy]

On that map the town i live in and mine is called hemp, it is basically northwestern moore, but a little more towards the center of the northwestern section. If you see hemp, then you also can see carters mill. That little road used to drive through the creek, and thats very close to my first actual vein find in the creek(which also produced nuggets). But like i said, land ownership changed and access is denied to all. This town has changed names many times through history, which can make research a pain. I wrote a long response and posted but for some reason im not seeing it. Ill check back over the next few days and see if it is just slow posting or if i screwed up. Lol

 

[Thepiratestumpy]

Basically the long post explained that sulphuric meteoric water leached most of the gold on my property and left me with small pieces and chemically locked up gold. Too much effort for too little pay, plus nc frowns on chemical removal of metals(leaching). So on my farm the juice aint worth the squeeze, i dredge the creek a couple miles from my place and do pretty good. So i had to give up on all this refractory ore and go where the gold is. It is nice to go from fly specks to flakes and the occasinal nugget. Itll sure make you appreciate what the natural processes can do for you and despise what they can do against you. It definitely taught me alot, and sent me mining veins of thought i probably never would have. It made me a better prospector in the end, but man the journey sucked, lol.