"dry" creek bed

[James/Ouida]

Ive found the old river bed, not far from the creek, with about 4in of sediment and saplings on it. A slow trickle of water still moves though it. I did test pans all over, middle, sides, up, down. Mm, any advice?

[James/Ouida]

Tree roots - on the lee side, or no? I ran into some good size river rocks shoveling, but I've got access to an auger. Next weekend I'll see if I do any better. I also keep getting gold like flakes, but they're gold, with blue hues and when I finally got a big enough flake, I was able to crunch and smear it. Reminds me of the kinda mattalic looking shale I used to skip rocks with when I was a kid. Is this an indicator of metals in the area, like black sand or rose colored quarts?

[Edson]

Sounds like you have mica flakes. Gold will not crush or smear and will always shine yellow in the sun or shade. Mica will only shine if the sun hits it and will crush and smear.
Edson

[mrs.oroblanco]

You might like to look and see if there is a possible contact zone or zones. (areas where the bedrock is of different types, and join together). That is usually a good place to do some sampling, also.

Beth

[James/Ouida]

Thank you, I'll take a look and see if I can find where this change in the rocks happen. I'm also seeing alot of rusty looking rocks, regardless of type. Lots of Iron, is this a clue I should be paying attention to?

[mrs.oroblanco]

Personally, when I'm sampling, I don't pay particular attention to iron - unless we are talking iron staining in quartz - that's a different type of thing.

Somewhere in my pack, I carry a nut pick (the things that pick nutmeats out of nuts), and if I can find a contact zone, I grab a pan, and dig out all the stuff I can out of the crack between them. Then sample. Of course, those picks are also great for all kinds of sniping, but, especially good for checking in specific spots.

I look for heavies (black sand) and, of course, the real thing. It's hard to be exact about little tiny flakes - until you see your first one - then, you always know.
If a piece is big enough, dig your fingernail into it - if it chips or breaks - garbage, if it dents or bends -


Beth