Best Method/Technique for working a dry creekbed ?

[Charles Oak Island NC]

Need some suggestions on the best Method/Technique for search for gold in a dry creek bed. It is a 1/2 mile walk into the area and no gas powered equipment or metal detectors are allowed (National Forrest)?

 

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[aarthrj3811]

Hey Charles...Take a Gold Pan and dry pan behind large rocks and inside bends. Put the panned materials in zip lock bags and mark where you got them. Go to a stream and finish panning the material and see how much gold is there. There are Dry Washers that could be used but I have found that the material in most dry stream beds have to much moisture for them to work right....Art

 

[Charles Oak Island NC]

Hey Charles...Take a Gold Pan and dry pan behind large rocks and inside bends. Put the panned materials in zip lock bags and mark where you got them. Go to a stream and finish panning the material and see how much gold is there. There are Dry Washers that could be used but I have found that the material in most dry stream beds have to much moisture for them to work right....Art

Art, thanks for the info

 

[aarthrj3811]

I goggled Dry Panning and found nothing of interest. There is other methods but didn't want to start a big fight. I don't know if you can pan but it is easy to keep the nuggets in the pan if there are any....Art

 

[Charles Oak Island NC]

Art, I have been researching the mini dry washers most of the day. Problem is with the panning there is no water and the nearest will probable be a 1/2 mile walk back to my mobile hunting lodge (Pop up camper).

 

[aarthrj3811]

The reason I would use a pan is that it would be faster and I would be able to dig more test holes. I have been using a pan for about 50 years so I can take it down to the gold without water. The way I do that is pan it down and the spread it on a plastic shower curtain for a few hours to let it dry. The gold will most likley be laying on the bed rock or in the cracks of the bed rock. This means it will have some moisture in the material. Most of the time I take the material home and process it there. I don't like to waste my field time so I dig more and process it later. ..Art

 

[Charles Oak Island NC]

Sounds good, think I'll try it when I go out there Wed.
Thanks

 

[bakergeol]

Charles
Seek more information about the prohibition of metal detectors in the National Forest you are interested in. Prohibiton against looking for coins or relics or prospecting? I prospect on National Forest land all the time with a metal detector as it is entirely legal in the 1872 mining law. It of course is illegal if you are seeking relics.

Check with a local prospecting club or metal detecting club.
George

 

[AuExplorer]

I had this problem once myself, here is what I did, but first inquire if a recirc system can be used. Classify the material down first.

If a recirc system cannot be used, a small battery operated vibrating pan will save you time. Use an old blower motor from a car and weight one side of the arbor. attach to small piece of plywood with a 2x2 under one end so that you may put a gold pan on it ( small finish pan ). Do not use enough weight on the arbor to stall the motor. add your classified material slowly to not overload this very primitive but effective recovery system. when the pan gets to heavy to vibrate properly, load material into 1 gallon ziplock and continue. You use this system after you have panned to find adequate location( bring gallon of water and reuse till it is almost unusable), snipe out cracks in exposed bedrock, large rocks and boulders and other natural gold traps, log jams in particular. The great thing about a vibrating pan is it can be transported in a small backpack and concealed easily. Finish panning your concentrates in the comfort of your home and leave the majority of material at the site, and do not leave little piles laying around, use that material to fill your holes back in. Dry panning takes hours and hours of practice and can be very rewarding once mastered. in the meantime, this little jig will do the work for you. Remember that if the material is very heavy, loads of black sand, tilt your pan more, it follows the principle of allowing the heavies to settle and the overburden to flow over the edge. ( old beaver dams are awesome places to look, not only amongst the debris of the dam itself,but the bottom of his dried up pond as well as he kept the bottom finely sorted).

 

[Dinkydick]

AuExplorer

A photo of your shaker would be nice.
What is the purpose of the gallon of water?
Are you panning with recycled water?

Please explain more for us novices.

Dinkydick

 

[Charles Oak Island NC]

by the way if I did not metion it this is in a national forrest and no power equipment can be used. Also it is a 1 mile walk, no roads with an over grown trail over 2 small ( 489 & 500 ft) hills.

 

[AuExplorer]

AuExplorer

A photo of your shaker would be nice.
What is the purpose of the gallon of water?
Are you panning with recycled water?

Please explain more for us novices.

Dinkydick

the gallon of water is for test panning if you cannot dry pan. Pan in a larger gold pan, I assume these restrictions are because of the fires. OK, you go old school, hand crank puffer box and Art knows what I am talking about. It is a form of hand operated manual crank drywasher of sorts. ( billows attached to a retail drywasher will work. if the gold is fine to dust( 1 micron ) you can use a blanket on a windy day(billowing).

If you understand the nature of specific gravity, you understand there are a multitude of unconventional recovery options. Dry panning is still your best option, you do not need to see the gold to know you are recovering it. This tells me he has never found native gold.

Point is, unless you can get the ranger to sign off on a piece of recovery equipment, homemade or bought. your operations will be merly on the scale of testing. If the forest service says no to a handcrank puffer box, they just don't want you there. realistically, you will be lucky to move a yard of classified material and that would be a very hard day.

Is this wash completely dry, or does it become active with spring and fall runoff... There is one more option, but you have to be a hardcore prospector to even consider it. Good old fashion desert rocker box.
This a homemade piece of equipment that you cannot buy. It works with no water and can be used for hardrock or placer. This one takes fortitude as you must rock the box with a load of head material and shake it down with no water. ( very labor intensive ) When 90 % of the material has Been shaken out of the box, you check your riffles and do it all over again. ( Remember the difference between a wet and dry rocker box is the dry rocker riffle platform is inclined 2" per running foot and you should classify down to at least 1/2"minus)

If you are looking for an authentic blueprint, Find a 1920's USGS placer or hardrock bulletin. Or you can make a small wooden sluice , put your head material in the hopper, hold with one hand and repeatedly tap with a hammer with the other. past this guys, I would have to do it for you....

May this be a very successful venture for you..

 

[aarthrj3811]

Hey AuExplorer….I experimented with water powered Rocker Boxes. They worked great. I have not done a lot of dry prospecting. Thanks for jumping into the discussion. I still think that a pan is still the answer for all prospecting. I don’t buy any equipment until I know what is there….Art

 

[AuExplorer]

Thankyou, I apoligize if I sounded abrupt. Good luck and happy hunting.
P.s, if you intend to work out of pans, take 3. Trust me, you will see why