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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[dvdtharaldson]

Good Going Brandon, congrats on the colors. The rock in the foreground of your picture looks like it has a large intrusion in it. That area looks like a nice place to be, colors or not.

 

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[vaquero44]

beauty part is this stream has never been panned by anyone and I have access anytime I want all private land sorounded up to a half mile........owner doesn't even want any take if I find a good spot of it LOL

 

[dvdtharaldson]

I recently jut got back from a vacation in Saco, Maine. I decided that since I was half way up to the Carrabassett River valley I would take the plunge and drive up to the Sugarloaf area. I didn't have any of my prospecting equip't with me, so I was just checking it out for future trips. I had heard that there was gold in the valley, but when I arrived I didn't see any indicators such as quartz, greenstone, or black sands. Anybody care to comment on the sugarloaf area?

Oh yeah, we also saw a moose in a swamp on some no name dirt road. That made my day.

 

[placertogo]

Plenty of gold in the Carrabassett River. Your best bet is working the crevices in bedrock that was under water in the Spring runoff. I doubt that you are going to find the "mother lode" as most of the mountains were scalped by the Laurentide Ice Sheet (often called glacier but was much greater in scope and area than just a river of ice) which receded 10 to 12 thousand years ago. Still, there is plenty of gold in Maine including some good sized nuggets. Much of the gold deposited by the Laurentide gets released every year by Spring runoff and heavy rains.

 

[WesternMassGold]

I wish there was somebody here in western Mass to go mining with.Went out the last 2 days and just went panning ( no sluice) here in western Mass.
below is my 2 day total .
122 pieces of which i found 64 of them behind a single rock. Still haven't found a picker yet click on picture to enlarge.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Tomorrow after work sound good? I'm starting from Marlborough but will be in the Couch Brook area by 5...and the days are loooong right now!

 

[Ben Cartwright SASS]

You guys have a great time! Wish I could go, maybe in a few years!

I am panning 10 pounds of cons I got from Consolidation Mining in Alaska, having fun, but even sitting panning my knees stiffen up bad.

 

[mace420]

I wish there was somebody here in western Mass to go mining with.Went out the last 2 days and just went panning ( no sluice) here in western Mass.
below is my 2 day total .
View attachment 1172031 122 pieces of which i found 64 of them behind a single rock. Still haven't found a picker yet click on picture to enlarge.

Not far from you. Looking to work with someone who has experience. I have some gear. Msg me.

 

[WesternMassGold]

Tomorrow after work sound good? I'm starting from Marlborough but will be in the Couch Brook area by 5...and the days are loooong right now!

I was informed a few days ago that all of Couch Brook is posted now .

 

[KevinInColorado]

Bummer! Glad to know that before I head that way. Still going but will try a different creek nearby I guess.

Mace420, I have lots of experience but none in MA. Tomorrow (ok, later today really) will be my first MA outing. Wanna come along too?

 

[Ben Cartwright SASS]

I was informed a few days ago that all of Couch Brook is posted now .

Doesn't surprise me in Mass, also from what I have heard it was getting way too much action and too many people.

 

[dvdtharaldson]

Well I got to meet the living legend himself, Kevin from Colorado. He comes as advertised. A vast wealth of prospecting knowledge and a great guy. Plus he brought beer. The only thing left to do was find gold, and find gold we did. In two hours we had about 20 pieces. I had never found a piece of gold with my sluice. Kevin made a couple of suggestions and before I knew what was happening he was pointing out colors on my slick plate. The old adage to go somewhere near where people have found gold in the past is still true today. Yeah, I know I changed it a little bit. The old standby spot on Couch brook is now posted. Bummer.

 

[Ben Cartwright SASS]

I have never met Kevin, but in our email conversations he is a great guy!

Congratulations on the gold!

 

[KevinInColorado]

Well I got to meet the living legend himself, Kevin from Colorado. He comes as advertised. A vast wealth of prospecting knowledge and a great guy. Plus he brought beer. The only thing left to do was find gold, and find gold we did. In two hours we had about 20 pieces. I had never found a piece of gold with my sluice. Kevin made a couple of suggestions and before I knew what was happening he was pointing out colors on my slick plate. The old adage to go somewhere near where people have found gold in the past is still true today. Yeah, I know I changed it a little bit. The old standby spot on Couch brook is now posted. Bummer.

I'm flattered David, thanks!

And with your charm, an area being posted "No Trespassing" is just not a barrier! David proved again that knocking on doors and asking permission pays off. We made a new friend and got onto a beautiful creek in a good paying spot...and even got us a place to park...all thanks to David's finesse.

David, I also wonder if you could find more good spots further east. My impression is that most prospectors have looked west of where we were. Also, I'd love to check the confluence of that Brook and the river to see if there's a hot spot there.

Anyway, good times and good gold. We need to get back there and focus on moving a good volume of dirt! Oh, and beer

...your friendly local prospectors ;-)

 

[WesternMassGold]

Congrats on the Gold guys and its good to see people getting together and doing things they enjoy doing.
Hopefully I can get out this week a few times and maybe hook up with 1 of u guys. David i got your message and i will call you as soon as i know what my schedule looks like this week end.

 

[dvdtharaldson]

I have never met Kevin, but in our email conversations he is a great guy!

Congratulations on the gold!

Thanks Ben it was the first gold of the season for me. I struck out the last 5 places I went to. Of course nobody has ever found gold in those streams so why should I have been different. Prospecting the unknown is almost as good as finding color in a known stream. Just Kidding. I would rather have the color.

 

[WesternMassGold]

Wow !! what a day on the River today.Went to my spot where i found 122 pieces in 2 days of panning last week. Just moved about 20 feet from that spot and started to dig.
Well, have You ever had one of those days where it didnt matter where you stuck your shovel? Today was it for me , i just could not go wrong.
I did what i call power panning. I stratified my material into my pan and then panned into my sluice.Then when i reached the last table spoon in the pan i checked for gold and used my sniffer bottle to suck it out .
I did about 7 or 8 Five Gallon buckets and only had 3 pans without gold in it. It was unreal . 3 or 4 times i had like 7 pieces in the pan.
When u power pan some pieces slip into the sluice because u work very fast , so the sluice is basically my back up plan.
Started cleaning the sluice cons and already found some gold in it but it got dark and can't wait for tomorrow to get my total.



I was working at the high water mark where u can see the red handle of my shovel ,then after i hit clay moved down to the water.My goal is 1000 pieces this season and before this clean out i have 607.

Here is my total vile hope u can see it clear.

 

[WesternMassGold]

Ok cleanout is done. The back up plan worked out nice i found 37 pieces in the sluice for a total of 185 pieces, my new highest total for 1 day .



David just stopped by to see it when i was finishing up. We are going out together for sure sometime in the next few weeks.

 

[dvdtharaldson]

WesternMassGold,

Thanks for inviting me over to your home today, I had a great time talking with you and watching your clean out process. If there was an award for best Western Massachusetts prospector you would win it hands down. You have an uncanny ability to know where the gold is. Very impressive total for this year. I still can't fathom that huge bag of black sand that you have. Keep up the good work.

Best Colors,
David

 

[WesternMassGold]

Yay,went out today for a quicky sluicing while it was nice out . I finally reached my 1000 piece goal. Yet the all elusive picker still evades me. So until i get that i just raise my goal to 1500 pieces for the season.
Not too bad for Massachusetts gold prospecting i think.