im trying undersatnd highbanking

[keveners209]

im trying undersatnd highbanking isnt the gold in water or very close too it, i have looked at peoples clames and where there at and there not even close to water, why is that and why claim a spot there so far from water source?

 

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[spillercanyon]

Placer claims are claims associated with gold that was originally deposited by water. Usually placer claims are located near water but there are a lot of them in old river channels that are now far removed from water sources. Lode claims (or hard rock claims) are associated with gold where it was originally deposited in rock, usually by hydro-thermal processes and have no relationship to where surface water is.

 

[travelerga]

You can highbank without water, it is called dry banking, uses air to separate the gold from the dirt. can be either a bellows or some people us leaf blowers modified .

 

[goldhog]

im trying undersatnd highbanking isnt the gold in water or very close too it, i have looked at peoples clames and where there at and there not even close to water, why is that and why claim a spot there so far from water source?

The SIMPLE answer........... without writing 2 pages.
Creeks, rivers and streams can move 100's of feet even 100's of yards of MANY years.
Most people can't wrap their minds around the theory of LONG TIMES.
If a stream has eroded a bank 18" this year.......... how much has it moved over the past 3500 years?

 

[keveners209]

well that answers that. thanks, but how do i know if there was a river there before? what to look for?

 

[auferret]

If your claim is not close enough to water to pump it to your highbanker, you can use a recirculating system but you have to pack the water to the site. The other option would be a drywasher.

 

[Clay Diggins]

Only stream and beach placers are created by water movement. In the arid West you can also find deflation (eolian) placers, residual placers and eluvial placers.

Most of the western States have these non water related placers as the primary placer gold deposits. Stream placers are only incidental to the local erosion of the other placers. Even where stream placers are common it's not unusual for them to be secondary to an eluvial placer.

If you are waiting on stream placers alone to fill your poke you are missing out on the majority of the placer deposits in the West. The bench above where you are river sluicing may well have better gold than the river itself.

 

[B H Prospector]

well that answers that. thanks, but how do i know if there was a river there before? what to look for?

If you are looking for benches that are high and dry that used to be old river channels look for rounded rocks like you would find in an active river. They will seem to be out of place at times as they may be several hundred feet above and removed from the present river. I have such a claim and know of others near my claim that are even higher.