A very Flakey Stream

[Sorehands]

I have recently been working a pretty big stream that has very healthy quantities of gold in it. Last week kicked out 2.6 grams from 29 gallons of material (sluicing). I have been working this place for 2-3 months and have been down to bedrock multiple times, I have dredged several times, have used a sluice-box, and have found gold in several different places along a 10+ mile span of water. I have dredged right out in the middle of the current and also in some of the deepest holes I can find. I have also been crevicing several times in very likely spots.

I have yet to find a single picker or anything of size. Gobs of flakes 100-200 size.

In the same general area - less than three miles away, I have found much larger sized gold (in much smaller quantity), but have found a few pickers.

I have only been prospecting for about a year. Does anyone know what might cause a larger stream to produce flakes almost exclusively? I am the last to complain about such a good spot, but just can't understand what makes the place so flakey....

 

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[goldenIrishman]

There could be several reasons for the difference in sizes Sorehands.

1. The source of the gold for each stream has different size gold. There are a LOT of factors that will determine how big the gold will be when it was deposited by geothermal actions millions of years ago.

2. The larger gold may not have traveled as far from the source and thereby not been broken up as much. The closer to the source, the larger and courser the gold SHOULD be. As it travels it gets beat against rocks and everything else in the stream/river which will either break it or smooth it.

3. Someone else may have worked the area with the finer gold in it before you and blew out the fines because their setup was off. I can't see that being the case for a 10+ mile span though unless EVERYONES setups were bad.

4. Any or all of the above or other reasons that haven't come to mind.

Not knowing where you're at makes it hard to say. Are you working in Alaska or Georgia? There is a huge difference in the geology between the two if you know what I mean. Heck, I've got a huge difference in the geology between here at the house and the area we mine in and it's only 100 miles apart. Take some time to study the makeup of your area and you may very well be able to answer your question on your own.

 

[arizau]

The lode that the gold was originally sourced from may have only contained fine particles or if there were larger particles they were probably less influenced by flood erosion and deposited further upstream. Bear in mind that most of the gold in deposits throughout the world are of the size you are finding and even smaller. Keep checking upstream and you may find larger gold but that does not always equate to more overall weight found as larger pieces and nuggets are rare by earth standards and their total overall weight is only a small fraction of all of the gold found or mined on earth. Good luck.

 

[Lanny in AB]

Hi there,

Not knowing where you're at, it's hard for me to know the geology of your area, but if you're in an area where there was glaciation, trying to predict where the gold came from, or why it's the size it is becomes a bit of a crapshoot.

I've worked on streams with bedrock rims where there was very nuggety gold, and the gold was very rough as well. I've worked other streams that weren't protected by bedrock rims ( bedrock rims are where the bedrock drops down steeply on both sides of the top of a buried channel deposit, creating basically a steep-walled ditch that the glaciers could not gouge out), and I only recovered flour gold, and the different streams weren't that far apart as to distance, but the one stream had its original deposit protected from the robbing actions of glaciers by the bedrock rims, and the other did not have bedrock rim protection. So, the glaciers gouged right down to the bedrock floor of the wider valley and hauled off the original deposit of nuggety gold to some other long-lost place.

What I've mentioned adds an interesting dimension to gold hunting as wherever the glacier dumped the nuggety gold it sole, someday, someone will find a bonanza of beautiful gold absolutely where it should not be.

So, if you're in a glaciated area, the actions of glaciation might be responsible for the different sizes and lack of larger gold in the one stream as compared to the other, or it may be an original deposition placement as others have already mentioned, and it will follow their rules of deposition.

All the best, and congratulations on the gold you've found so far,

Lanny

 

[russau]

you may be in a high pressure area/section of that stream.

 

[Lanny in AB]

you may be in a high pressure area/section of that stream.

That's a good point too!

All the best,

Lanny

 

[Sorehands]

Thank you for all of the pointers. I am in Georgia. I am also in an area quite a ways South from what everyone thinks of as the 'Gold Belt'.

Almost every reason you all have suggested applies to this waterway:

I am working an area that is a very very long ways south of what is defined as the Georgia Gold Belt.
The waterway goes through a couple of very slow almost lake-like sections.

The area I am prospecting is indeed high pressure - if I understand what you mean by 'high-pressure' as in rapids and lots of volume of water being pushed? My ignorance has me thinking that only the heavier pieces would be, - well - heavy-enough to not get pushed around, but the smaller stuff would be gone...washed down into slower moving water

The glacier part makes sense as well and I will continue to look in unlikely places in hopes of finding that huge pile of nuggets ...

The only thing I don't think has happened is that there was a lot of previous prospecting attention, if any. From all the old records I can find, this area is never mentioned, there are no mine nearby nothing. , I also think this waterway has had very little prospecting pressure, based on the volumes and easy access for the gold I am finding. No one would really consider it, I only did some panning in it to show some kids how too pan and almost fell over, when I saw what showed up in the first test pan. It just seems like the amount of gold (lots of it) I am finding in the most likely and easily accessible places makes me believe it has not been prospected much.

Thank you for all of your insights. This sight has been a tremendous resource. I just completed my first year (only collected 18 grams - so have a lot to learn), and seriously have the fever and am hope to never be cured.



It helps to know that what I am finding is also more common than not, plus Lanny makes a good point as well.

 

[BurntBear]

I would continue to dig test holes, moving further upstream. If you're finding what you're finding in fine gold, I would think there is a pretty good deposit somewhere. A source vein could possibly be running through the stream as well. Where is the spot where you were finding pickers in relation to the stream you are sluicing? I would assume all the flakes you're finding are from very high pressure water flow. -Luke

 

[Reed Lukens]

18 grams in a day is a good day but for a year it needs some help. What kind of dredge did you use and did it have an undercurrent or side boxes?

 

[Sorehands]

Reed:

I have only had the dredge for a few months and have about 12 hours of actual dredging time total. I have a Pro-line 3" combo but am just now getting the T-80 and diving gear - so most of the dredging has only been 'long-arming' and some snorkeling.

I also have limited time to prospect +- 20 hours a month. It may be that if I spend more dedicated time on the bottom of this stream - in the deeper holes, I might also uncover some bigger pieces, plus get through more material and increase quantity.

I really have no idea what is an average day for most experienced prospectors. What do you think is 'average'? Where we live/prospect must play an important part in that. My best day this year was about 3 grams. I spent months (when I just started) - walking lousy streams and test panning without finding much of anything. It is only now that I am zeroing in on better daily takes. Once I get to do more dredging, just having the ability to process much higher volumes of material should drive up the daily takes.

It may sound weird, but I really like the quiet and simplicity of sluicing - as dredging is quite a chore to set-up/take-down, etc. and the places where I can go (legally) are limited as well.

 

[Reed Lukens]

Reed:

I have only had the dredge for a few months and have about 12 hours of actual dredging time total. I have a Pro-line 3" combo but am just now getting the T-80 and diving gear - so most of the dredging has only been 'long-arming' and some snorkeling.

It may sound weird, but I really like the quiet and simplicity of sluicing - as dredging is quite a chore to set-up/take-down, etc. and the places where I can go (legally) are limited as well.

The 3" combo is probably one of the worst machines that you could get for fine gold recovery. I would sell it and get a 3" Proline dredge and then convert it to an over under for excellent recovery. The highbanker is a pain to set up for sure and if you put a second sluice behind it, you will see how much you are loosing. If you want to stick to highbanking then a Gold Cube Trommel would be a smaller option.

Proline - Proline Mining Equipment/Gold Dredges 3" inch

 

[Armchair prospector]

Save the money and add a sluice box.

 

[Lanny in AB]

I would say that maybe the reason you're finding your gold, and the reason that both of your spots still have gold, may be because you're off the main spots that have been hunted heavily.

Known gold streams, solid producers, always get hit hard, and have been hit hard for a long, long time. So, keep it a secret wherever you're finding your good color, and have at it.

Keep testing, because that process follows exactly the three rules of prospecting: 1. Test, 2. Test, 3. Test.

Update us on what you find as you keep checking things out.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[KevinInColorado]

Great job getting out in the field and doing real prospecting ...searching, testing and hiking around. There are lots of little streams in AND OUTSIDE of known gold country that produce! I've found little streams here in metro Denver that produce 10x the gold of the big well known waterways where everyone goes to dig...great to hear you are following the same prospectors path!

Ps I've never found 3 grams in one day so keep your secrets and dig hard!!

 

[Sorehands]

Thank you Kevin!!! I actually do the same thing - I dub it 'urban prospecting'. Strip-malls and subdivisions go up around these streams and they become locked into these building buffer areas. One of the streams I found is small enough that my sluice box wouldn't fit in it sideways.

It is loaded with gold. Clearly was never touched. I actually park in the strip mall parking lot - go over the bank - walk through a drainage tunnel - under six lanes of highway, and right at the end of the drainage area it hits a corner - filthy with small gold.

I really do have the sickness.

PS. I kinda thought it was a darn-good day. Everyone has a different perspective. I also absolutely love my Pro-Line - Jeff (one of the owners) has been great to work with, has coached me on how to adjust my dredge to keep the small gold. I may add a sluice box behind it, but their equipment is rugged, very well engineered, etc.

Hopefully you have plenty of hand-warmers for your winter prospecting - last time out I needed the full 7MM wet-suit - 29 degrees ambient and about 42 degree water. With good gear it really is pretty comfortable year-round. If you ever get to Atlanta, please give me a call - and if you agree to be blind-folded we can hit some urban waters... 770 605 4293. Have a good one.

 

[KevinInColorado]

I call it urban prospecting too! I guess we are brothers from across the country! If I get to Atlanta I will definitely give you a call and I PROMISE to keep your secrets! If you come to Denver contact me via tnet private message and I will show you my secret hot spots! My latest one is right behind a car repair shop (see my prospector journal ...that's where I dug today!)

PS no such thing as bad weather, only poorly dressed prospectors! LoL I go out year-round