Going where no one has gone before... with a pan and pick

[ncclaymaker]

Found an area with an abundance of Wisconsin glacial till from the Pleistocene era (about 12,000 years or so ago). Now I'm going to test the nicely exposed sand and gravel laying on the exposed bedrock formation. There appears to be numerous dikes with quartz and dolomite running through them, with tons of fissures perpendicular to the water flow. The early Dutch settlers were kind enough to have located two stone dams in this steep valley for water driven mills. Records indicate that the mills were operating in the early 1700's as the Dutch settlers were expanding inland. Since the place is somewhat difficult to get to, because of the challenging terrain... where would you start to do some serious testing? Near a 15-18 foot high stone dam that spans the water and has a waterfall or downstream where there is faster moving water, has exposed boulders, sand and gravel. The area next to the water course indicates bedrock. Photos are below.

Waterfall from a narrow ledge above at the dam site.


Dam span from the valley side.


Water coursing below dam. On the top left, remainders of another long gone dam.

 

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[63bkpkr]

ncclaymaker, you've an interesting site to investigate!

typical locations are: inside bends in streams, on the downriver side of large rocks (or any rocks), in flood plains (heavies usually in the top few inches) and wherever the water slows down, like in a wide spot in a stream or just as it enters the water that has been dammed up.

Would guess that there could be some building sites in the area that could be checked for surface finds, bottle and such.


Make sure you are not on private land and with that confirmed have some fun!...............63bkpkr

 

[Capt Nemo]

Start with sand tails behind any boulders. Most of the gold will be sand sized, and expect a speck or two per bucket. Nuggets are possible.

If you're on dolomite, you're in the northeastern part of the state on the Niagara Escarpment. Best to check for black sands where rivers empty into Lake Michigan, as you might hit 5 to 30 per bucket.