Not to be a downer, but what the longest slump you have experienced??

[scottyk]

Just a curious newbie question, but I am going to make a honest attempt at finding gold where its not exactly known to be.. Just wondering how long of time period you guys have been searching with NO luck?? and what is your best explanation as to why?


I fully plan to keep at this untill I find gold, I may have to travel, but thats okay because its been a dream of mine to find my OWN gold for a long time!!

BTW thanks for the great info and pictures on this site, VERY helpfull and motivating.

 

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[strickman]

everybody has skunks ..........we all do ....... but the secret is research-leg work-research-oh yeah research! you'll find it !

 

[63bkpkr]

Let's see, I was born in 1944 and did not find my first nugget, Jimmy Sierra called it a flake what a downer, till 1992 or 93. Is that long enough? Why so long, I was dumb. I'm not quite as dumb now but I'm not even close to smart though last year I found a nice little patch of pay dirt mixed in with a couple tons of larger rocks and boulders. I did have a nice adventure locating the nuggets and between a Whites GMT, a gold pan and finally a sluice box I found the followingnote - 50 cent piece is there for size, did not find it with the gold)

I've had the GMT for some time but this was the first time I'd found gold with it due to not being the smartest person around and not having really used the machine enough to understand it better. After my experimenting with it last year I have a feeling that I will really like this year's use of it. But like strickman indicated - research, learn, think, read, learn where gold is typically found and just keep trying.

63bkpkr

 

[Gravelwasher]

Carry a pan at all times and when your curious about a spot try it, sample, sample, otherwise you will always wonder!! Its when I start wondering when my gold fever gets bad, gotta keep that fever in check so I sample every chance I get!! Gravelwasher

 

[Hoser John]

1956

 

[scottyk]

yeah thats pretty much the norm from what I've heard.. Me and a buddy I work with have been scouting out some potential spots around here but nothing in the general area has been known to carry any gold, has anyone checked? we dont think so...

Here is the thing, we hit a bad bad flood in 09. past the 500 year flood plane, so hopefully some good material has been washed down the river and creeks. Everything is frozen solid right now, I actually went for a little walk just to dig up a 5 gallon buckett worth of raw dirt, had to chip the dirt out with a hammer. I know its a very small sample but I at least threw in a few pieces of lead and small shavings and retrieved those through panning, no gold though I would like to build a dredge and try some areas along the river but Im not 100% sure on the laws in Iowa, I know if I stand a chance to find anything I need move a considerable amount of material and this seems like the best way to go about it.. Hauling buckets of raw dirt back home to sluice it out and pan it in the garage isnt going to cut it I dont think.

Thanks guys for the replies

 

[Sackett]

I'm kinda lucky...I can get on my 4 wheeler and ride out my backyard and be sluicing or panning in about 10 minutes, or I can drive for 10 minutes and go at it...I've found that it is better to work in South Carolina in the winter and then go to North Carolina where I'm from, and work in the summer...It is so hot...in SC in the summer and so much cooler in the mountains of NC...I've only got 1 creek in NC where I've found any gold...so far!!! Hope to find more spots this summer...I've made a hand dredge that I can't wait to use in NC...It has really made a difference in the gold I'm getting out in SC, once you get dug down to bedrock, or for getting into the cracks, while you just can't keep the material on a shovel or spade....I can suck it up now!!!!

 

[63bkpkr]

ScottyK & Sackett,
Having a place to go to that is close would be so nice and for some it is a reality. Scotty we've all carried lots of 5 gal buckets of raw sample and it is NO FUN! Last year I started with a small classifier and a gold pan along with the GMT detector and found a spot. I went back with just the pan but more digging equipment and removed more gold but man that is work. Then I brought in a sluice box and that really helped though I did not use it properly so I know I put at least one nice nugget right back into the river. Hauling five gallon buckets from the work site to the sluice is still work but not near as much as hauling it out and taking it home so yes having a sluice on site IS the way to go once you've confirmed there is gold there.
Check out the Angus McKirk sluice boxes. They have a new system of a sluice box with legs as well as their bucket grizzly mounted on the input end. Grizzly would really speed things up BUT I personally would want to metal detect what falls off of the grizzly. I would use their 5 gallon bucket grizzly on dry ground and then moisten the bucket of sorted fines at the river before putting the fines down the sluice. Prospecting will always Really be Work and extra heavy at times when moving large boulders but it is all a part of the adventure.

Good Luck, 63bkpkr

PS - watching the gold build up on the examining matt while running samples through a sluice is quite a thrill!