Going on my first gold hunt today...

[BurntBear]

My partner has been mining for gold for some time but this will be my first true gold hunt today. We have a positive lead, so wish me luck! We have a few pans and we're going to set up two sluices. My partner was able to prospect this spot of few days ago and came back with a few little chunks that were beyond promising. Hopefully, I will be uploading pictures of gold tonight; if not, I always find a gemstone or two.

 

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[2cmorau]

now that you may have a spot of good paydirt, Good luck, dig dig dig worry about panning when ya get home move that material

 

[rodoconnor]

Good Luck man

 

[H&F909ORO]

Remember to show us what you got when your done.

 

[BurntBear]

Long day at the creek! We're working on sorting out the "goods" at the moment but here are some of the photos from the trip.

We got stuck behind a caravan of covered wagons. So cool!





My partner...



The creek...



A hole from a previous trip...



Getting it in...



This is the set-up I was using today. I wasn't using a pan at all for my first time, just a sluice with a home-made classifier screen on top that I can remove as I need to. I filled a bucket with my creek bed and sifted it over the screen into the sluice. It was fun! I have rocks locking it tight while I was taking a lunch break and got some photos.



This is the whole I started behind a massive boulder.





I'll post the results and few gemstones when I come back.

 

[BurntBear]

Ok, let's not laugh too hard at the new guy, but I did find gold!

I found about 14-15 flakes and here is a terrible photo.



Keep in mind that we just started new holes and I'm only about 24" deep. I haven't hit any clay yet and certainly nowhere near bedrock. The reason this is a promising area is the first day my partner went, he found little chunks (not flakes), in the first few inches of his dig. If there is gold on top; there is definitely more below! My partner retrieved at least 5-6 times what I did.

 

[BurntBear]

As I predicted, I found a few gems in my hole. Actually, I'm beginning to wonder if I should focus on the gems next trip,lol. This is a handful of Topaz I pulled out of my dig. Some of it is actually good quality.

 

[H&F909ORO]

Great job on the first gold hunt! By the way you call that a creek? It's darn big don't ya think? Nice gems too, loved the pics and thanks for sharing!

 

[BurntBear]

Yup, that's Wilson's Creek in N.C. A well-known creek for gold.

Thanks for the compliments!

 

[Jeff95531]

There is no such thing as a terrible picture of gold. Well done!

 

[BurntBear]

Thank you!

I'm learning the specific gravity properties of different minerals and I think I might be able to use that to determine how close I'm getting to bedrock. At least it seems it should work that way, I'm still learning, lol.

 

[BurntBear]

My partner and myself went back to prospect again today (Monday). I decided to change spots and started digging in the sandbar in the middle of the creek. I dug down into the sandbar about 30" before I had to pack up. I'm still nowhere near bedrock!

Here are a few photos:

The sandbar...









This was my end result in the bucket after cleaning out the sluice box. Now, my partner has been gold mining for years and when he panned this black muck, it was almost all magnetic. He placed a strong magnet inside a Ziploc bag and separated it all. I literally have over a 1/2 pound of this black magnetic grit. He said in all his years he has never seen this much magnetic material and it was hell trying to pan it. Now, I did get some gold; but not as much as we were expecting, especially after how easily we found it previously. Do you know what is causing this much magnetic material? Is it a good sign? I don't want to give up on this hole until I hit bedrock!

 

[2cmorau]

coverd wagons, thumb nail size topaz and a little shine what a great day

 

[BurntBear]

...and here is another goody out of the new hole.

18. ct. colorless Topaz

This picture does not do this piece justice! It's gemmy and beautiful!

 

[GrizzlyGremlin]

Guy, seriously ditch the flakes and get your self rich on topaz man.
Thats a nice piece but i bet there are much much better specimens not in stream gravels.
Awesome fun though!
Its ALL a never ending hunt!

 

[BurntBear]

Oh, I'm after gemstones primarily, lol. Gold is an excuse to dig holes for gems.

 

[BurntBear]

Here are a few better shots of the Topaz:

 

[rodoconnor]

Nice topaz Bear ! Good job