New England Glacial Gold Mining

ncclaymaker

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New England Glacial Gold Mining Aerial Photos

Went up to Vermont this past weekend and found that gold mining is alive and well in the "Nanny State". Take a gander at the number of placer mines digging along a glacial deposit dragged in mostly from the Dominion of Canada (Yea Montreal Canadiens!!). The deposit goes into New York as well, whereas another separate glacial deposit drops down into Massachusetts. Besides the quaternary alluvial deposits, there appear to be considerable sediment-hosted Au deposits in New York and Western Massachusetts. Just have to ferret out where the parts to the puzzle come together.

Photos of gold mining activity in New England -

VT_AU_01.JPG

VT_AU_02.JPG

VT_AU_03.JPG

The early bird gets the worm... the second mouse gets the cheese.
 

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Clay Diggins

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Those are slate quarries ncclaymaker. You can see them clearly marked as quarries if you view the topos for the area. That's known as the New York - Western Vermont slate belt. Yes, as you suspected you will find the same quarries in western New York, the deposit does cross to the west. They are where the colored slates used all over that area of New England were quarried. I'm sure you have seen them used in construction.

You can learn more in the Slate Deposits and Slate Industry of the United States. Here is one of the many MRDS entries for those quarries.

There are a lot of books and studies done of those famous quarries. The metamorphic slate there is part of the St. Catherine Formation. Those are not glacial deposits. No gold metal but a lot of golden history will be found in that area. :thumbsup:

Heavy Pans.
 

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ncclaymaker

ncclaymaker

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Aug 26, 2011
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Champlain, NY on the Canadian border.
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ClayDiggins - I don't need the books from the slate industry, Just "Alternate Facts" from the mrds. All of the links below are gold mines. There are dozens more of them. I don't waste time searching for slate deposits, just precious metals. Vermont is a hodge-podge of deposit formations and thrust faults - Cambrian and Ordovician of the Paleozoic Era.

https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/show-mrds.php?dep_id=10081190 Poultney River Drainage Placer Deposits

https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/show-mrds.php?dep_id=10111270 Batten Kill Drainage Placer Deposits

https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/show-mrds.php?dep_id=10081193 Deerfield River Drainage Placer Deposits

https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/show-mrds.php?dep_id=10111271 Williams/Saxtons West River Placer Deposit

https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/show-mrds.php?dep_id=10081538 Unnamed mine

Have a nice day panning for slate!
 

brianc053

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Clay Diggins

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I'm aware that Vermont has some known gold deposits. I'm puzzled why you bring that up?

I was just pointing out that your picture of "placer mines digging along a glacial deposit" was actually the well known slate quarries of Vermont and New York. There is no "glacial deposit" there.

You might try prospecting around the "mines" you listed if you can get permission from the mineral owners. That would be the most likely place to find a little gold. You could try prospecting the slate quarries you showed in your google pictures but you won't find any gold there.

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nh.nugget

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they are known for marble quarries as well. Visited some when I was a kid. most of the gold I know about is along the VT/NH border which is part of the Clough quartz formation. it runs down the Conn. river valley. I've seen some decent gold from VT problem is hands and pans or a sluice permit which you have to show you have Land owner permission before they will issue a permit. Get caught $300.00 fine
 

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ncclaymaker

ncclaymaker

Sr. Member
Aug 26, 2011
370
315
Champlain, NY on the Canadian border.
Detector(s) used
Minelab 1000, A Motorized Power Glider Trike, 17 foot travel trailer behind my Jeep. 4" suction dredge/high banker.
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
Panning for gold to me is strictly a means of prospecting an area, so I can decide to set up a dredge or high-banker. I have absolutely no plans to prospect in Vermont(a bona fide nanny state) because it's unlawful to use a sluice. Doesn't matter if yu own the land or get a permisso from the own.So I'll stay over the state line in either New York or Massachusetts. The geopolitical entity called Vermont was not around when the last ice age came and carved up everything in its' path. In New York or Massachusetts, one has to connect and follow the dots from Vermont along fault lines, the Cambrian and Ordovician layers, certain formations, etc. Takes time and a lot of research to sift through all of the information to go from possibility to a state of probability.


Let's put this to bed, kapayapaan, peace, paix, shaanti, vrede, and of course שָׁלוֹם
 

nh.nugget

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You can do your thing in NY/MASS one state you can give your gold to them cause they own it meaning NY. Or go to Mass and count specks myself I like to find gold you can actually weigh at the end of the day.
 

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