specksandflecks
Full Member
Went to a new location and did some real sluicing. Closer to bedrock. The hike was a killer and there was a lot of lion activity around there.. 8 classified buckets of dirt yielded 2grams. Here's a pic not a very good pic but only one I took lol. View attachment 941675
Also my sluice kept loading up with black sand and I'm positive I was losing gold... There's a ton of black sand there it was crazy. 1 bucket loaded it up. Slowed production having to do cleanups so often.
Looks more like black gravel to me . If black sand is a good indicator, black gravel is even better! One could probably make a case for gold being the best indicator, looks like you have both!
It's too bad things didn't "pan out" in the gravel bars, but so goes prospecting they say.
I think the same thing has basically been said a few different ways, that being there are lots of variables and gold is where you find(sample) it.
That being said, I completely agree with your logic in wanting to investigate that area. It has been my experience (although limited) that any time you see topography that concentrates the/a channel on a gold bearing drainage, good things can happen.
Previously mined isn't always a bad thing either of course. In some areas, depending on the nature of the gold and energy of the drainage, I look for signs of past dredging, cobble, etc. I have actually made some decent finds in these areas simply because gold has been redeposited in the same spot that was worked before (early-mid 80's).