Goldfleks
Sr. Member
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2016
- Messages
- 490
- Reaction score
- 791
- Golden Thread
- 0
- Location
- California
- 🏆 Honorable Mentions:
- 1
- Detector(s) used
- Whites MXT-300, Tesoro Sand Shark 10.5", Bazooka Sniper, Bazooka Prospector
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
Ok, so I'm at a bit of a dilemma...
I have the spot that I've been digging at since I started recreational prospecting. Community dig site south of Cattle Canyon Bridge at the East Fork. Gold is ok, not great. But I know what to expect when I dig there. I think part of why this site produces decent-ish gold is that it's so dug out that the holes are far enough down that the pay layer is accesible. And the holes just migrate around as different people dig them. I can count on a few decent flakes, a picker now and again, and a bit of fine gold every time I go there. But I'm defenetely not getting over a gram in a few hours of digging like the boys in Colorado.
But whenever I try a new place to dig and start my own hole I usually find much less. And I know a big part of that is simply that I'm not at a depth deep enough to get decent gold. I know I could commit to digging a new spot but I don't know if it would pan out to anything more than what I'm already getting at my current spot. And then there is the opportunity cost of finding/starting a new hole. And the time it would take to dig it out to where it's paying at least what I'm already getting.
I guess I could test pan around, but with all the overburden covering everything, I really don't feel like that would produce much as all the pay is down deep.
Thoughts?
The other thing I've thought about it using google Earth and tracking the river location. In a few of the places I dig it's jumped the bed after the rains in 2005 to where it's currently flowing. I know the river carved out the entire canyon at one time so the gold is everywhere, but if I dig in a now dry river channel that used to flow 10 years ago am I upping my odds?
Still learning.
My other issue is partly related to the fact that most of my digging is close to the parking lots so it's heavily prospected. But until I improve my gear and find a reliable digging partner I'm sorta stuck staying close for now.
I have the spot that I've been digging at since I started recreational prospecting. Community dig site south of Cattle Canyon Bridge at the East Fork. Gold is ok, not great. But I know what to expect when I dig there. I think part of why this site produces decent-ish gold is that it's so dug out that the holes are far enough down that the pay layer is accesible. And the holes just migrate around as different people dig them. I can count on a few decent flakes, a picker now and again, and a bit of fine gold every time I go there. But I'm defenetely not getting over a gram in a few hours of digging like the boys in Colorado.
But whenever I try a new place to dig and start my own hole I usually find much less. And I know a big part of that is simply that I'm not at a depth deep enough to get decent gold. I know I could commit to digging a new spot but I don't know if it would pan out to anything more than what I'm already getting at my current spot. And then there is the opportunity cost of finding/starting a new hole. And the time it would take to dig it out to where it's paying at least what I'm already getting.
I guess I could test pan around, but with all the overburden covering everything, I really don't feel like that would produce much as all the pay is down deep.
Thoughts?
The other thing I've thought about it using google Earth and tracking the river location. In a few of the places I dig it's jumped the bed after the rains in 2005 to where it's currently flowing. I know the river carved out the entire canyon at one time so the gold is everywhere, but if I dig in a now dry river channel that used to flow 10 years ago am I upping my odds?
Still learning.
My other issue is partly related to the fact that most of my digging is close to the parking lots so it's heavily prospected. But until I improve my gear and find a reliable digging partner I'm sorta stuck staying close for now.
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