First Time Going Out

[bostonmike]

Hey Guys,
Been on the forums for awhile but just recently joined. I'm going out Saturday for the first time. My Bazooka Gold Trap Prospector 30" came in 2 days ago. I'm heading up to the Wild Ammonoosuc River on Route 112 near Bath, NH. The river runs right along 112. I'm hoping to pull over along 112 and sluice in the river. I know there is a campground that will let you sluice for like $5 a day at the end of 112. I know alot of people get gold there but I'm worried it might be picked over. Lots of people with dredges.

Any tips for the first time out?
I have the following:
BGT Sluice 30"
2 Spade Shovels
3 5 gallon buckets
Pry Bar
Garden Trowel
Hip Waders (wearing wool socks under them)

I'm planning to look for gold inside bends, downstream side of big rocks, under rocks, any sort of natural trap, where the water slows down.

Thanks in advance. Hopefully I'll have some pictures to post!

 

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[Jeff95531]

Welcome to the forum bostonmike. There are some good people in your area who will likely chime in soon. I didn't see any pans in your list. Forgot? Either way, make sure you got em. Good luck and let us know how your adventure goes.
Jeff

 

[delnorter]

You really should have a gold pan as well Mike. Quick sampling of the material will tell you a lot before you set up and start feeding the the Bazooka.
Good luck Mike.

Mike

 

[goldenIrishman]

Welcome to the asylum Mike! Like the OTHER Jeff said, there are some locals that should pop in soon. I hesitate to offer advice to the guys on "That" side of the country unless it's on fabrication of equipment since the geology is so different than what I work out here in Arid-Zona. Desert prospecting is an entirely different animal. Sounds like you've got the right idea but be sure you check that you can prospect in that area LEGALLY ! Out west we have a lot of public lands that are managed by the BLM/Forest Service that prospecting is allowed on. Back east it's all private land, so you have to have permission of the owner to be able to work it. Make sure you know where you're at, who owns it and that you have permission to be there so you don't end up finding yourself having to explain things to a officer of the law. Be sure to C.Y.A.!!!

EDIT: And yes... PANS!!!! It starts with one and ends with one. Make sure they fit your hand and are comfortable because you'll be using them a lot!

Morning Grasshopper and Del

 

[Aufisher]

Crevice tool and hand broom

 

[bobw53]

A pick axe. Unless all your dirt and rocks are really loose, and I doubt they are.

I carry (in the bed of the truck) 3 sizes of shovels, and 2 sizes of picks..

Shovels, from prospector scoop (garden trowel size, but they work better), a couple of the shorty shovels that are used for gardening and you
can get them at lowes, and some full size shovels. Some people even go all the way down to spoon size, depending on what you're digging or scraping.

Then a full size pick axe from Lowes and a small prospector pick or 2.

And if there is even the slightest chance that you are going to be down on your knees, get some good knee pads, best thing I ever bought.

 

[nh.nugget]

You can get a pan at the camp ground. They have a decent little supply store there. I'm a seasonal camper up there. The water should be rippin' through there after all this rain we had. As far as being picked over I doubt it. As long as you're not in my spot knock yourself out. I'll let you know if you are! LOL! A word to the wise us seasonals pretty much have our spots that we work. I know I do, so please don't be a grave robber find your own place to dig. I'll be up there this afternoon for the weekend. If you see a silver Dodge 3/4 ton on the side of the road before the camp ground come on out and holla' hey nugget I'll give the run down on the river can help you on where to get some of that yellow metal we all love! Oh yeah by the way welcome to the site! PS. do your self a favor just go to the campground spend the 5 bucks some of the land owners are a little persnickety.

 

[triple d]

The high water should have things. Pretty stired up for you. There plenty of gold there you should find something. Alot of it is real tiny. So bring you cons home so you can look them over real good. Need a lope to see some of it. And best of luck.

 

[nh.nugget]

Hey I almost forgot I'll have a brown ford explorer this weekend.

 

[bostonmike]

Thanks for the advice guys. Its good to hear a few of you have hit the area I'm looking at.

Nugget/Triple D I talked to the lady at the campground on the phone. She told me they have about a mile of river we can prospect. Is that true? She also told me I can't go past the middle of the river and no digging in the bank. She said shovels were ok just no digging in the river bank. Is there a safe place to park?

Thanks in advance.

 

[triple d]

Yes you need to go on the right hand side of the houses. And you can go all the way to the end of the guard rails. And stay on the road side half of the river. It is about a mile. And you can park on the side of the road. Don"t leave and thing of value. Some Vec. have gotten broken into. And best of luck. Any questions someone will help you out. Here on T Net. Look around and learn from others. Most everyone will give tips.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Also bring a sealable container for your concentrates. Bring home the concentrates to pan/classify/pan again....to get more gold and learn more about how the material behaves in the pan.

 

[bostonmike]

Had a great time sluicing Saturday. Not sure if I got anything yet. I dug on the downstream side of a big rock. I dug underneath it but never reached bedrock. I was getting gravel/dirt mixed in. The hole kept filling in with ground water. Really rocky.

You guys got any tricks for digging in the river beds? I felt like progress was slow, kept hitting rocks. My pans come in this week so I will pan the concentrate and let you guys know if I got anything. I sluiced about 6 5 gallon buckets of material.

PS. Nugget I didn't see you up there. Only saw a couple of silver pickup trucks along the road and a white van with a dredge in it. Seemed pretty quiet up there.

 

[goldenIrishman]

Mike... If you're new to panning I'd strongly suggest using a safety pan under your working pan. That way if you happen to flip any gold out you can easily re-pan the materials to get it. Don't over load your pan and take your time while panning. It's not uncommon for beginners to lose gold while they're learning.

 

[nh.nugget]

I didn't have my truck had my wifes Explorer. I know where the van was same place every week. I'm going back up this weekend, this past weekend had limited time. you know happy wife story! As far as digging in the river goes you were getting the right material. Use a crow bar to loosen the rocks and pick them out then dig yes progress is slow. If you did 6 buckets you did good! I'll let you know when and where I'll be for sure if you can come back up I'll PM you with the details. And when your pans come in make sure you scrub them with a scotch pad and soap gotta get that oil out of them.

 

[KevinInColorado]

One digging tip:
Punching the first hole downward IS really tough since the gold tends to collect where the big rocks are dropping. However, digging sideways is much easier...you can lift rocks in the wall of your hole up with your shovel...which typically is quick and easy. So that's when you can really get rolling!

 

[fowledup]

Gonna need a snuffer bottle to pick up that gold! Paydirt1850 (tnet member) has a good video on crevacing and what tools are needed. If dredging is allowed there, concentrate on where the dredges can't go. Crack and crevacing used in conjunction with sample paning and your bazooka would be a good bet. Find a likely crack or crevace. Work it down some and sample pan it. Good sign and if the crack is large enough set up your zook and process the entire crack until it is squeaky clean and your scraping rock. Don't quit until you've scraped the bottom of the crack. Quitting too soon is the biggest mistake folks make. The gold is in the bottom. In fact if you see cracks that have been worked but not very deep give them a go, someone may have been nice enough to do the heavy work for you. They probably found a speck or two of flood gold in a sample pan thought they were on to something but didn't find anything in the next couple of pans so they quit. Take advantage of their mistake. The fact that it held a speck shows it has the capacity to catch gold so it's worth cleaning it out. Again if their dredging, all your doing out in the throat or around the boulders is shoveling overburden and their tailings. Forget the conventional "rules" of finding gold, in a pay to play place that is a known producer, it's about looking where others haven't. Don't expect much at first, enjoy what ya get and have fun with it- best of luck.

 

[Jeff95531]

Avalanching of undesirable material...both dry and wet was an early problem for me. Once you know it is going to happen you can work to prevent it. In the water it's tougher for sure so I divert the flow when I can. It's still under water but easier to work with when it's not flowing.

 

[triple d]

If you found it tuff digging. More then likely someone else had not already dug there. Try to get away from the crowds. Hard to do in the campground. I find the spots. With the least overburden are the best. And even in the dry areas. Its easier to tell if someone has already worked the spot. But can make it harder to sluice with a bgt sluice. You have to haul material to the sluice.But a better chance to get some gold.

 

[fowledup]

Three stakes, some two hole pipe straps, and a couple of hinged planks or cut lengths of plywood make a cheap and easy differsion- maybe not so easy depending on flow, lol!