Hey everyone. Longgun here. I am a gold mining nerd and prospector. I want to share a secret in plain sight that I used to find a large zone of high grade gold that drastically improved my highbanking yields.
In the process of exploring my family’s river claims, we made a common discovery: the best gold appeared to be underwater and the main deposit gets richer as it gets closer to the river channel. We aren’t allowed to dredge or excavate under water so our options are somewhat limited.
In general a good little hobby operation needs: 1. A good claim. 2. Good/ efficient equipment. 3. You also need knowledgeable and tenacious people to prospect and operate.
But I realized that you could still have all three and have difficulty in certain conditions. One of these extra variables is clearly timing. Timing influences the weather and water level, ie the potential entire viability of the operation. If I go to some of my lower river claims in the middle of summer when the rivers are at max capacity there is very little exposed ground. In some areas it is downright dangerous. An entire expensive trip may be wasted if you have no access to your best ground.
So this led to some obvious questions: When is the lowest water level for river x? When is the best time to prospect? For me, I was looking for answers for BC’s Cariboo region.
I asked some prospectors I know and I got answers like “The fall, silly.” “October.” “Whenever you have free time.” “Depends on the area and year.” “November, as it freezes up.” But these weren’t satisfying enough. There had to be a more calculated, scientific answer.
I knew that most modern countries have weather and monitoring stations all over the place. So that’s the first place I looked. I was able to find water level and discharge rate monitoring in real time for major bridges on all the rivers I was interested in. I found archives of 100+ years of data in some cases.
So I delved into the numbers to see what I could learn and if I could crunch some of it into something more usable.
Not to derail this post into a global warming debate, but I did notice right off the bat that in general water levels and the spring high flood arc have steadily declined especially over the last 25-30 years, which coincides with the repeat new record high average temperatures nearly every year over the same period. What appears to be happening is the warmer weather is allowing far less snowpack and ice accumulation at the higher elevations in the mountains. So every year, like the once massive glaciers in Banff and Jasper that I have watched shrink with my own eyes, they melt and deplete, leaving less ice to be built up the next year for the subsequent melt. This leads to progressively weaker and weaker spring flood periods because the volumes to draw upon are far lower.
So if you’re a boater or a fisherman that kind of sucks… but it is a huge boon for gold prospectors. There is ground open now that was very difficult or impossible to access in previous decades at higher water levels.
The other thing that stood out was that I was clearly looking at rivers within a rainforest ecosystem. The sudden onsets of seasonal but still semi random rain had a big temporary impact on the water levels. This led to other stations monitoring general precipitation data, so I could pick the statistically driest time within the local rainforest area to maximize efficiency and add another layer of relevant consideration.
To get a more accurate picture of the river water levels, I went with the data from the past 20 years, focusing mainly on the last 5-10.
The overall picture was clear: there are two optimal times to work these Cariboo / Fraser river systems, and that is a short late fall trip and a long spring trip once a year.
When we first started prospecting we did summer trips that evolved into fall trips but now we reserve most time for the spring and fall. Our summer trips will be spent metal detecting and doing exploration in other dryer areas. If you are at a small scale that means you probably have a day job and will need to plan your trips well in advance to be effective. This kind of data helps you determine the dates. This can be the difference between making forty bucks a day or four thousand.
So what is the magical day for the Cariboo region in BC, Canada? It’s March 15th. I just went and tested the date theory and, although we timed it poorly with a sudden cold spike, it was still awesome. We now have full access to numerous exposed gravel bars loaded in fine gold. The workable acreage essentially tripled if not quadrupled or quintoupled, revealing many unexpected gravel bars and build ups to prospect in future trips. I was able to stand right in the heart of what is usually one of the most raging, swift flowing rivers in the world. It was a humbling experience.
Green = water level Yellow = discharge
There is a limited but awesome window there for optimal prospecting both pre and post that low date around March 15. The spring melt is usually in full force by the end of April. I believe the low period exists because during this period in the region the temperatures start to stabilize, where it can be very nice 3-15 C in the sun but then it still drops below freezing every night. This allows all the areas around the river’s main channel to thaw and drain, while still leaving the vast majority of all the snowpack on the banks and up into the higher elevations for a prolonged hot period to melt later in the spring/early summer.
The amount of extra workable ground I discovered is staggering... and yes, the gold is amazing. The surface high up gravels are $5 a pail but down low we were getting well over a gram per 5 gallon pail of classified 1/4 inch material.
I can check my favorite river’s data in real time and go prospecting whenever it is convenient. ( https://wateroffice.ec.gc.ca/search/real_time_e.html )
So you can do the same check the water level before flying out or traveling.
Examples of other unconventional data sources to armchair prospect:
BC- hydro data - most modern countries will monitor their river levels.
Archived Weather reports - storm reports (uncover flood events and time your trip in a period with low precipitation/ ideal weather)
Forest fire data + up to date satellite pictures- new access to previously hidden /inaccessible areas.
Logging companies - access onto new fresh ground that has never been prospected before in human history with the trees removed and outcropping material used to make roads no matter what it is composed of.
(MTO) Online title resources - look at lapsed claims relative to geological and topographical features to locate awesome claims and potential gold deposits… from home.
These ideas can surely be applied to other regions, scenarios, and local systems.
Thanks for reading and happy prospecting! I hope you all find loads of gold!
-TMLonggun
In the process of exploring my family’s river claims, we made a common discovery: the best gold appeared to be underwater and the main deposit gets richer as it gets closer to the river channel. We aren’t allowed to dredge or excavate under water so our options are somewhat limited.
In general a good little hobby operation needs: 1. A good claim. 2. Good/ efficient equipment. 3. You also need knowledgeable and tenacious people to prospect and operate.
But I realized that you could still have all three and have difficulty in certain conditions. One of these extra variables is clearly timing. Timing influences the weather and water level, ie the potential entire viability of the operation. If I go to some of my lower river claims in the middle of summer when the rivers are at max capacity there is very little exposed ground. In some areas it is downright dangerous. An entire expensive trip may be wasted if you have no access to your best ground.
So this led to some obvious questions: When is the lowest water level for river x? When is the best time to prospect? For me, I was looking for answers for BC’s Cariboo region.
I asked some prospectors I know and I got answers like “The fall, silly.” “October.” “Whenever you have free time.” “Depends on the area and year.” “November, as it freezes up.” But these weren’t satisfying enough. There had to be a more calculated, scientific answer.
I knew that most modern countries have weather and monitoring stations all over the place. So that’s the first place I looked. I was able to find water level and discharge rate monitoring in real time for major bridges on all the rivers I was interested in. I found archives of 100+ years of data in some cases.
So I delved into the numbers to see what I could learn and if I could crunch some of it into something more usable.
Not to derail this post into a global warming debate, but I did notice right off the bat that in general water levels and the spring high flood arc have steadily declined especially over the last 25-30 years, which coincides with the repeat new record high average temperatures nearly every year over the same period. What appears to be happening is the warmer weather is allowing far less snowpack and ice accumulation at the higher elevations in the mountains. So every year, like the once massive glaciers in Banff and Jasper that I have watched shrink with my own eyes, they melt and deplete, leaving less ice to be built up the next year for the subsequent melt. This leads to progressively weaker and weaker spring flood periods because the volumes to draw upon are far lower.
So if you’re a boater or a fisherman that kind of sucks… but it is a huge boon for gold prospectors. There is ground open now that was very difficult or impossible to access in previous decades at higher water levels.
The other thing that stood out was that I was clearly looking at rivers within a rainforest ecosystem. The sudden onsets of seasonal but still semi random rain had a big temporary impact on the water levels. This led to other stations monitoring general precipitation data, so I could pick the statistically driest time within the local rainforest area to maximize efficiency and add another layer of relevant consideration.
To get a more accurate picture of the river water levels, I went with the data from the past 20 years, focusing mainly on the last 5-10.
The overall picture was clear: there are two optimal times to work these Cariboo / Fraser river systems, and that is a short late fall trip and a long spring trip once a year.
When we first started prospecting we did summer trips that evolved into fall trips but now we reserve most time for the spring and fall. Our summer trips will be spent metal detecting and doing exploration in other dryer areas. If you are at a small scale that means you probably have a day job and will need to plan your trips well in advance to be effective. This kind of data helps you determine the dates. This can be the difference between making forty bucks a day or four thousand.
So what is the magical day for the Cariboo region in BC, Canada? It’s March 15th. I just went and tested the date theory and, although we timed it poorly with a sudden cold spike, it was still awesome. We now have full access to numerous exposed gravel bars loaded in fine gold. The workable acreage essentially tripled if not quadrupled or quintoupled, revealing many unexpected gravel bars and build ups to prospect in future trips. I was able to stand right in the heart of what is usually one of the most raging, swift flowing rivers in the world. It was a humbling experience.
Green = water level Yellow = discharge
There is a limited but awesome window there for optimal prospecting both pre and post that low date around March 15. The spring melt is usually in full force by the end of April. I believe the low period exists because during this period in the region the temperatures start to stabilize, where it can be very nice 3-15 C in the sun but then it still drops below freezing every night. This allows all the areas around the river’s main channel to thaw and drain, while still leaving the vast majority of all the snowpack on the banks and up into the higher elevations for a prolonged hot period to melt later in the spring/early summer.
The amount of extra workable ground I discovered is staggering... and yes, the gold is amazing. The surface high up gravels are $5 a pail but down low we were getting well over a gram per 5 gallon pail of classified 1/4 inch material.
I can check my favorite river’s data in real time and go prospecting whenever it is convenient. ( https://wateroffice.ec.gc.ca/search/real_time_e.html )
So you can do the same check the water level before flying out or traveling.
Examples of other unconventional data sources to armchair prospect:
BC- hydro data - most modern countries will monitor their river levels.
Archived Weather reports - storm reports (uncover flood events and time your trip in a period with low precipitation/ ideal weather)
Forest fire data + up to date satellite pictures- new access to previously hidden /inaccessible areas.
Logging companies - access onto new fresh ground that has never been prospected before in human history with the trees removed and outcropping material used to make roads no matter what it is composed of.
(MTO) Online title resources - look at lapsed claims relative to geological and topographical features to locate awesome claims and potential gold deposits… from home.
These ideas can surely be applied to other regions, scenarios, and local systems.
Thanks for reading and happy prospecting! I hope you all find loads of gold!
-TMLonggun
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