MA/VT/NH Panning

[dvdtharaldson]

Hi ,

This is the first time I have posted on this website. I live in Western MA and am planning a trip during the last few days of September to Vermont to try my luck panning. I was going to try Buffalo Brook and Five Corners in the Bridgewater area. Does anybody know how far down you ordinarily have to dig to hit black sands in those areas? Any comments on whether you have to dig deep or just stay on the surface? I was thinking Irene probably deposited alot of flood gold on the surface. Does anybody know if some of the small brooks high up in the mts. north of Bridgewater contain gold? All I ever hear is Buffalo Brook and Five Corners. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. As you probably could tell I am new to panning for gold.

Thanks,

David

 

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[triple d]

Cobbler I have prospected in the White Mtns. Tunnel brook, Wild Am, Swift, and a few brooks in Evans notch.But have mostly prospected in Maine. Usually find A few specks of flood gold.Ive done better in Maine. Thanks for shareing. Sounds like you have had some fun adventures.Always wanted to try Indian Stream.Do you need permission to prospect there. They do find some chunky gold there.

 

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[cobbler]

Cobbler I have prospected in the White Mtns. Tunnel brook, Wild Am, Swift, and a few brooks in Evans notch.But have mostly prospected in Maine. Usually find A few specks of flood gold.Ive done better in Maine. Thanks for shareing. Sounds like you have had some fun adventures.Always wanted to try Indian Stream.Do you need permission to prospect there. They do find some chunky gold there.

When I was researching Indian Stream before the trip I came across The New Hampshire Division of Parks and Recreation : Connecticut Lakes Headwaters Working Forest under additional resources is the full plan from 2007, pg 24 and 25 have some maps of the forest land and pg 66 and 67 cover permitted uses where it states that hobby mineral collecting is permitted. I figured I was ok to pan after I read that.


View from the trail above the canyon


above the canyon




down in the canyon


Trout swimming at my ankles

It was a great trip, I was hoping to find some chunky gold but only found small stuff and lots of pyrite cubes.

triple d did you pan Watson brook near Evans notch? Ive always wanted to try that one too. I panned the Swift in Maine for 1 day a couple years ago and found some specs but nothing chunky there either. I figure it takes quite a few days on a river to even start figure it's secrets out.


I'm starting to think there is a rainbow that ends at Chef's dredge, way to get some beautiful, chunky gold!

 

[triple d]

Thanks for the info and research on indian stream. The picture with the uplifted bedrock. Looks really good with all the cracks and crevices. I didn"t try watson brook in Evans notch. I tried morrision brook and the wild river.Didn"t have much time to spend there and didn"t find anything. There is a lead gold silver mine somewhere in that area.

 

[vaquero44]

have you guys ever tried the sunday river or bear river in Newry right beside bethel? I have got a few specs from the bear river I'm originally from Bethel anyway and was curious about the wild river also have been hearing about a place in upton headed towards andover off east B hill road

 

[dvdtharaldson]

I just got back from my trip up to Stowe Vermont. I found a couple of very small flakes in Sterling Brook. I also prospected Gold Brook and found at least one flake there. I haven't gone through all the cons from Gold Brook yet. I caught a few Brook trout which I released and also found some chanterelles. All in all a very good trip. Sterling Brook gorge is an exceptional place to hike.

 

[triple d]

44 no its a area Ive wanted to check out thought. The wild and morrison brook had some exposed bed rock. So i had to check it out.

 

[triple d]

Dvd sounds like a fun trip . Thanks for sharing.

 

[chef440rt]

Today's take.


Been finding some good chunky's the last few days. Sadly tomorrows my last day of dredging for a few weeks. But that's ok, I need a break I'm beat. This photo is from the last 3 days.

 

[vaquero44]

got a little gold from the swift river yesterday using the bazooka gold trap sniper 30" got a nice flake and a probably if I had to guess -100 mesh gold spec I was kind of excited to see the that big flake

 

[Ben Cartwright SASS]

Is that 0.644 grams or ounces?

Today's take.
View attachment 1032256

Been finding some good chunky's the last few days. Sadly tomorrows my last day of dredging for a few weeks. But that's ok, I need a break I'm beat. This photo is from the last 3 days.
View attachment 1032257

 

[GrizzlyGremlin]

Its grams, but i bet chef is getting close to a half ounce this season!

 

[dvdtharaldson]

I finished going through my cons from my latest Vermont trip to Stowe. I only found one more flake to move the total to five. Attached is my total for the year.

Sorry about the poor image quality, I am no better a photog than I am a miner.

 

[chef440rt]

Man I wish it was ounces! But ya GG is right it is only grams. There are 31 grams in 1 troy ounce. I'm a little over a quarter ounce so far this year, and that's much better than I ever expected! I don't set goals, although I would love to be able to get 1/2 ounce before hunting season. It all depends on time off from work because I live in central MA and the river I go to is 3 hrs drive, so I don't get to prospect as much as I would like to.

 

[dvdtharaldson]

I always thought I was a pretty good panner, but today I learned that maybe my panning aint what it ought to be. I have been saving my black sands and putting them in different shaped bottles. I always keep just the heaviest of the black sands for my bottles. I was panning down my black sands and thought I saw a glint that shouldn't be there. Upon further inspection I found two fines. To any novice out there, it's probably a good idea to pan your black sands at least twice. So instead of a woefull 22 colors, I now have a respectable 24 colors. Total weight .00000000001 milligrams.

 

[triple d]

The black sank can hide the fine gold. Some times the black sand will coat the fine gold.I have a blue bowl and process my super cons two or three times. Depending on the amount of black sand. And garnets.Also fine gold likes to stick to the larger rocks. So if you clasify wash the larger rocks. Usually will find me a few more specks. And i save all my black sands. There a method to get the trapped gold out of them.

 

[cobbler]

Tried to keep the streak I had two weeks ago going through this last week with more after work panning sessions. My mini-picker streak dried up finally and I gave up on the two lines I was working in search of fresh ground. Ran down river and test panned a couple new spots trying to zero in on the bigger gold they have. Found the occasional nice flake but mostly smaller stuff and no heavy deposits of it. Dug out a crevice and found a bunch of lead but only a few small pieces of gold. I don't know why but whenever I find lots of lead I don't find that much gold. The same with black sands, when they are so heavy they fill a bigger portion of the pan when the material is panned down I never seem to find good gold. Maybe it's so fine I can't really see it. Gonna jump rivers this weekend and check out a new tributary I found some fine stuff at the bottom of earlier this year. Hopefully get in a mile or more of river walking and test panning, hopefully find a good deposit of fines in some easier digging.

Not as good as the week before but the season total is still building!

 

[KevinInColorado]

lol kin' very good!

 

[VERMONTPACKRAT]

Today in the mail I got my Garrett pan set and my Keene mini sluice. Some time in the next week or two I will be at the Wild Ammonoosuc on a friends six acres, right on the river. I have never panned in my life. This will be new to me so wish me luck!
I live about 45 minutes away. (in Vermont) He has been prospecting for years and owns a 2.5 and 3 inch dredge. He says that with a little practice I will go home with some gold. He has shown me some of his. VERY NICE!

I will post again after my first trip there. VPR

 

[GrizzlyGremlin]

Hey pack rat, if you get your friend to agree to
let is bring a 4" id love to give you nozzle time and a cleanout in return, and you would most definitely come away with more gold than most wild am panners find in a season.

 

[chef440rt]

Today in the mail I got my Garrett pan set and my Keene mini sluice. Some time in the next week or two I will be at the Wild Ammonoosuc on a friends six acres, right on the river. I have never panned in my life. This will be new to me so wish me luck!
I live about 45 minutes away. (in Vermont) He has been prospecting for years and owns a 2.5 and 3 inch dredge. He says that with a little practice I will go home with some gold. He has shown me some of his. VERY NICE!

I will post again after my first trip there. VPR

The fever is very contagious. You'll be infected in no time!