Gold in them hills?

[HDmac]

Hey guys, so I have brook very close to my house (technically I own it) and I am very new to prospecting. I know over the years friends and family have casually panned in it but never found even a fleck of gold. I also have never heard of anyone finding gold in it. HOWEVER what it does have is garnets, lots and lots of them. I thought it would be fun to go and practice my panning / find some garnets for fun. After a good pan behind a riffle-looking rock, I pulled up a few dozen garnets and took them home. I put them under a 40X microscope so I could get a closer look and see the true color/quality of them. To my surprise it looked as if there was small amounts of gold attached to them! So here is my question:

Does it look like gold to you and if yes, do you think that I should continue looking for gold despite never finding any? It is such a small fleck it could only be seen under 40X.

P.S This brook is in eastern/southern Vermont. There are not any known gold bearing brooks for at least a 45min drive.(says google) I have a sluice box coming soon so I will be able to process a lot more dirt.

Pics: sorry kinda hard to see

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[david583]

Hi I'm from vt and I have found gold in every brook in vt I have ever panned , also nh and ma . It's there it just may be in small amounts whether or not that it's worth it I Cant tell you . Good luck !

[HDmac]

Hi I'm from vt and I have found gold in every brook in vt I have ever panned , also nh and ma . It's there it just may be in small amounts whether or not that it's worth it I Cant tell you . Good luck !

Cool, do you know of any places in southern Vermont where you have had decent success? Thinking about heading to buffalo brook soon, but that is probably over prospected by now.

[david583]

Buffalo brook should be fine , I haven't been there in month or so but it has good gold, the ottaquechee has some gold you just have to get to the bottom , that's the key no matter where you go

[HDmac]

Buffalo brook should be fine , I haven't been there in month or so but it has good gold, the ottaquechee has some gold you just have to get to the bottom , that's the key no matter where you go

Yeah, everyone I have talked to that pans in Vermont says you have to scrape the bedrock if you want anything. The problem I have is I will find a nice gravel pile on the inside of a bend or something, and it will often be too large to process with just a pan... I could spend all week just digging to the bedrock and panning it out. Hopefully the sluice I ordered will be able to make quick work of a pile like that. Too bad I can't use it on public land... Any other Vermont specific prospecting advice?

[david583]

Sorry yes , mettawee river in Dorset area is a good one . I know Windsor county the best , but seriously gold is everywhere in vt just some place you'll have to dig a little deeper and work a little harder that's all .

[david583]

I would if your not too far away Plymouth is the place to go !

[HDmac]

Cool, Thanks! I will try to post results if I get any in the next week or 2

[63bkpkr]

Practice at home, you've got the brook in "your" backyard why waste gas money going anywhere else. When you get your sluice it will take some practice to learn how to use it: how much water to use and what angle to use without loosing 'the good stuff'. Then once you have practiced go where you want. The bit of color I can make out on one of your very nice pictures looks like gold. Somehow you need to test it to confirm that it is gold and not pyrite or mica or other non-gold material. Usually scraping will give you a clue but you need to be able to Hold the garnet to be able to scrape it hard enough. You might be able to do a specific gravity test if you have the proper equipment for that, check it out on the internet. Good luck...........63bkpkr

[HDmac]

Practice at home, you've got the brook in "your" backyard why waste gas money going anywhere else. When you get your sluice it will take some practice to learn how to use it: how much water to use and what angle to use without loosing 'the good stuff'. Then once you have practiced go where you want. The bit of color I can make out on one of your very nice pictures looks like gold. Somehow you need to test it to confirm that it is gold and not pyrite or mica or other non-gold material. Usually scraping will give you a clue but you need to be able to Hold the garnet to be able to scrape it hard enough. You might be able to do a specific gravity test if you have the proper equipment for that, check it out on the internet. Good luck...........63bkpkr

Thanks for the advice, I practice panning a lot with lead and tungsten sinkers, sometimes I will even take a hammer to the lead and make flakes. It wold probably be a good idea to invest in a gold test kit, there is a TON of pyrite and mika etc. in my area, sometimes I get all exited because one will make it down to the black sand only to be disappointed upon inspection >.<

[63bkpkr]

The gold test kit could be a good purchase. Here's a picture of what some flattend pieces of gold can look like.......63bkpkr

[63bkpkr]

The gold test kit could be a good purchase. Here's a picture of what some flattend pieces of gold can look like.......63bkpkr

[HDmac]

OP here, so I went out panning again today because it was so nice. I found a little gravel dump behind a rock that was close to the bedrock so I started digging and panned all the gravel that was 2" or closer to the bedrock. I didn't see anything but I took the black sand and whatnot from the last 2 pans home in a bottle. After drying it and taking a close look with a jewelers loupe, I found this little guy! My first spec of gold I might go back this afternoon and try again in a different spot, now I know there are specs, might be a picker hiding somewhere!




Update:
Alright so I went back this afternoon and I found a spot that I thought would be awesome (See pic) There where like natural riffles that are underwater when the brook floods. It was shale-like bedrock so I started breaking it and sure enough there was gravel in-between the layers! In the pan it went and I thought for sure I would get a fleck or better. Got back home and examined the concentrates, but alas, nothing. I guess I will be heading up to Plymouth as soon as my new pans get here! ^.^

[vtgoldprospector]

You should have a look at Jamaica State park. Walk along the river toward the dam. There is a very nice path to follow. As you approach the dam you will see a foot bridge crossing a small stream. Head up that stream just a little bit and you will see all the garnet you could ever want. Boulders the size of compact cars covered in spots. Splash some water on them and they turn almost polka dotted. It's pretty neat.

www.goldmapmaker.com

[loby]

If you are not in a known gold-producing location, but want to do some practice panning to acquire some skills before going out into the field, you can practice in your own backyard. Use a washtub to pan into and some diggings from your garden (or wherever) to simulate streambed materials. I recommend that you throw in some rocks and gravel along with the dirt so that it takes on an actual streambed consistency. Take some pieces of lead, buckshot or small lead fishing weights, cut them up into various sizes ranging from pellet-size down to pinhead-size, and pound some of them flat with a hammer. This puts the pieces of lead in the same form as the majority of gold found in a streambed-flake form. They will act in much the same way as will flakes and grains of gold. Leave a few of the pieces of lead shot so that gold nuggets can also be simulated.

[loby]

here is the link you can survive here.

» Gold Panning Instructions

[cra61]

I don't know about VT, but do know it northern NH gold can be found in Indian Stream, so I would assume you could find it about anywhere in the North East. Don't hold your breath for striking it rich, but have fun and good luck. I lived in NH for the first 42 years and down here for the last 9.