MA/VT/NH Panning

[dvdtharaldson]

Hi ,

This is the first time I have posted on this website. I live in Western MA and am planning a trip during the last few days of September to Vermont to try my luck panning. I was going to try Buffalo Brook and Five Corners in the Bridgewater area. Does anybody know how far down you ordinarily have to dig to hit black sands in those areas? Any comments on whether you have to dig deep or just stay on the surface? I was thinking Irene probably deposited alot of flood gold on the surface. Does anybody know if some of the small brooks high up in the mts. north of Bridgewater contain gold? All I ever hear is Buffalo Brook and Five Corners. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. As you probably could tell I am new to panning for gold.

Thanks,

David

 

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[dvdtharaldson]

Why are pre-Cambrian chain lake rocks so important (circled in red)? I would have thought that either volcanic arcs or metamorphosed oceanic crust (greenstone belt indicated above) would contain more minerals. Is the green schist facies (low grade metamorphism) the deciding factor?

 

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[Adventure_Time]

All of the minerals in the greenstone schist belt are derived from Cambrian and Pre-Cambrian volcanics that have undergone several metamorphic events and can be considered Low Sulfide deposits, you maybe be able to find some nice sizable concentrated deposits in the area highlighted because it would contain high sulfide deposits VS the more evenly distributed free mill / sulfide gold throughtout the Bronson Hill Anticlinorium. Also along the faults surrounding the formation should have some nice epithermal mineralization, especially along the NW faults following the greenstone belt. When in a high sulfide deposit area be on the look out for naturally occurring springs along the lower elevations of the formation as these may be the remnants of an eroded vein (porphyry deposits) that would have deposited mineral rich contents directly around this structure. Drainage of the conglomerates on the flanks of this formation is where I'd start my search.

Lack of garnets in area indicates less pressure / less metamorphism, the orange garnets you find likely indicate the area is rich in plagioclase feldspar. Much of the gold found during the brief mining in the Ammonoosuc Gold District was inter-twinned with plagioclase feldspar within the sulfide rich formations (patridge / madrid / clough / smalls) when examined under a microscope. It was along the faults where these formations met each other that the richest deposits were located, as documented by Mr. Hitchcock, again epithermal low sulfide deposition at work.

Additionally this area is likely to have good glacial gold as well brought down from the above greenstone belt(s) of Quebec.

A Geologic Report on the Lakes Massif

 

[Adventure_Time]

When people say there's not much gold on the east coast

 

[E.MassAuMan]

Ok I have found your geologically centered posts quite intriguing as you possess a vast knowledge of New England Geology and its geologic history
Being from the Eastern part of Massachusetts I am asking you, utilizing the criteria for where Gold could/should be located, is there any place you would recommend prospecting East of a line that would be the I 395/ I 190 highway system going thru Worcester??
There are reports of Gold in Douglas Ma as well as In the Sheldonville area near RI. I would be interested in your thoughts on the Esker in Boxboro as well as the border towns along NH

Thanks

 

[Adventure_Time]

Ok I have found your geologically centered posts quite intriguing as you possess a vast knowledge of New England Geology and its geologic history
Being from the Eastern part of Massachusetts I am asking you, utilizing the criteria for where Gold could/should be located, is there any place you would recommend prospecting East of a line that would be the I 395/ I 190 highway system going thru Worcester??
There are reports of Gold in Douglas Ma as well as In the Sheldonville area near RI. I would be interested in your thoughts on the Esker in Boxboro as well as the border towns along NH

Thanks

As far as places east of that line, the Boston Basin circled in orange holds the most promise. The gold in Douglas (yellow) is of glacial origins, it does not correlate to any local formation. Sheldonville (blue) is in the correct geology to host gold deposits locally, look for the rhyolite / dacite / quartz within the areas circled in light blue. As far as the Boxboro Area / Esker (red)... it does not stand out as having any special significance, it certainly could contain gold as the glaciers certainly cut across the right formations but predicting which formation it dropped where is something I can't do from the armchair. If you see promising rock types within the glacial sediments... keep digging. The absolute best gold will be found in the area circled in green. Look for the partridge formation schist, which is black and rusty in color then from there find the quartz veins within. The partridge formation is the darker grey, the lighter grey represents the littleton formation, which is also nearly equally as promising as the partridge. Where the purple Paxton formation makes contact wit the Partridge / Littleton formation has moderate potential along the contact faults. The gold will NOT be big, it is all fine stuff. Much of it is microscopically interwinned with sulfurs of the Partridge formation, that said there is plenty that is macroscopic and again you want quartz. A rock crusher wouldn't be a bad thing to have if you want serious amounts of gold, of course you have to be willing / able to treat sulfide ore.

If you like the beach, any of the shore around the Boston Basin after a good storm would be worth a looksy for beach gold.

 

[E.MassAuMan]

Thank You I downloaded an App for the iPhone with a similar look to your map
I will let the forum know what I find in my future trips as the 90 miles to the Ct River Valley can get a bit tedious at times

 

[Adventure_Time]

You can download a geological map for every single state from the USGS website, open the .kml file in google earth and you can even click on the individual formations to get more detailed information on them. It's a wonderful tool for any prospector, keeps ya from going on wild goose chases.

 

[dvdtharaldson]

I just got back from a trip to the so called gold coast of central Vermont. Once again I went to a few of the well known places around the Black River and neighboring basins. I hit some of the smaller brooks in the area and did ok. My total for the three days I was there was 39 pieces, two of which were nice sized flakes. One of which measured 1/8 of an inch. It was the largest I have found to date. I probably panned for a total of 4 hours, 45 minutes at a time, over many different days. Its payback time now though, at least that's what my inflamed joints are telling me.

Excellent foliage around the Westin area, saw quite a few deer and innumerable wild turkeys plus a quail. Had a great time.

Best Colors,
David

 

[oxbowbarefoot]

I just got back from a trip to the so called gold coast of central Vermont. Once again I went to a few of the well known places around the Black River and neighboring basins. I hit some of the smaller brooks in the area and did ok. My total for the three days I was there was 39 pieces, two of which were nice sized flakes. One of which measured 1/8 of an inch. It was the largest I have found to date. I probably panned for a total of 4 hours, 45 minutes at a time, over many different days. Its payback time now though, at least that's what my inflamed joints are telling me.

Excellent foliage around the Westin area, saw quite a few deer and innumerable wild turkeys plus a quail. Had a great time.

Best Colors,
David

Dave, let me know when you're headed up next time if you want some company!

 

[KevinInColorado]

Dave is good fun to dig with so I hope you get the chance!

Dave, thanks for the good times this summer!!

 

[dvdtharaldson]

Kevin, the pleasure was all mine and thanks for the vote of confidence. I completely enjoyed and greatly benefited from the two prospecting trips we went on. If you ever are back east on business again let me know, I have found some new places we need to prospect.

Oxbow Barefoot, I just took my last trip to Vermont yesterday. I won't be returning until Spring. The next time you are in the area give me a call it would be great seeing you again. I will definitely send you a pm next spring when I return to Vermont.

As I said above I just returned from my last trip to Vermont for the year. I went up with Western Mass Gold and had a great time. I set a personal best with a total of 32 pieces for the day. I showed him my favorite spot and we both found some pretty nice flakes there. We then went down river and were able to find a lot of smaller flakes mostly in the minus eighty range. I personally panned for about two hours with a lot of breaks in between. WMG panned from the second he got there until the second he left, non-stop.

Best Colors to All,
David

 

[WesternMassGold]

OMG!!! OMG!!! A major disaster has happened!! The Apocalypse is here now!! David found more gold than me!!! LOL . Good for you David. i got 28 pieces. i had a great time . it was exciting finding some bigger pieces than the stuff we find in Mass. Thx for taking me there bud. I can't wait to go back and make it a weekend camping out and hopefully next time i find my picker i been chasing all year.

 

[E.MassAuMan]

Took a mental Health day off today and headed out to the Keets Brook area in Leyden, only about my 4th time out this year. Did some scouting before putting the pan in the water and met up with this gentleman Bob who apparently has been working area for a few years

He was good enough to invite me upstream to work some of the feeder streams coming off of the mountain and feeding the river

He showed me some of his techniques for working the banks, cracks and Bedrock formations

Some of the take for the day



I have a trip planned with Kevin in Colorado in 3 weeks and I think I know where we are going

 

[KevinInColorado]

Wow, yes indeed!!
...looking forward to it ⛏[emoji383]

 

[vaquero44]

very nice!

 

[WesternMassGold]

Once again David and I went north towards Vermont . weather was nice and water was cold. But we lucked out and found a nice stretch of river with a slight bend in it and found some really nice pieces. 3 hrs of digging , unfortenatly David 's back gave out and we had to quit.But i got 55 nice pieces , way bigger than Mass gold.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Wow, nice stuff!

 

[dvdtharaldson]

As WMG said another nice day on the river. We decided to head a little farther up river from where we had some good success the last time. WMG saw a land owner in his yard and asked him for permission to prospect his property, which he granted. Two minutes later WMG was in the river. I decided to talk to the property owner and found him quite knowledgeable and very interesting. We ended up taking a walk along the river, all the while I was asking him questions about the area. I gained a wealth of information about all things natural in the area.

I eventually made it down to the river and decided to prospect some bedrock on the slack side of the river. After about an hour I still didn't have anything to show for my efforts. I then decided to prospect a bench on the opposite side of the river. At high water it would have been submerged but that day it was high and dry. I found colors immediately and kept finding them in every pan. Ended up with 63, half of which were plus 50 mesh. A few plus 30 mesh. A very good day.

Best Colors,
David

 

[KevinInColorado]

You're getting a nose for where to dig...it just gets better and better now!

 

[dvdtharaldson]

Actually Kevin I think its just going to get colder and colder now! Thanks for the vote of confidence.

You're getting a nose for where to dig...it just gets better and better now!