am I doing something wrong???

[mattisdell1983]

hello all, I went to one of our local creeks today that is known for some gold but the weather has been very cruddy and the water level was pretty hight but i saw a few really big rocks and so i started to pan the trailing edge of the rocks where the water was alot smoother but after about an hour of panning the only thing i found was 2 really tiny flakes( about 1/2 the size of a grain of salt). I thought this was a great place to pan for gold...is there any advice on why i may not have caught anything worth taking home? or anything reccomended? Should i try to pry the dirt from under the rock or should i just get as deep as possible? please help out a newbee, thanks alot, matt

 

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[okbasspro]

Welcome to the addiction
Get as close to bedrock as possible gold sinks to the bottom of the creek it is 19 times heavier than water most rocks are 6 times heavier.Dont get discourged if you found color there will be bigger gold deeper.I am in a state that has very little gold but bedrock pays off this pic is from a trip earlier this year with my 2 in dredge.
Happy Dign

 

[drewan29]

Welcome to the addiction
Get as close to bedrock as possible gold sinks to the bottom of the creek it is 19 times heavier than water most rocks are 6 times heavier.Dont get discourged if you found color there will be bigger gold deeper.I am in a state that has very little gold but bedrock pays off this pic is from a trip earlier this year with my 2 in dredge.
Happy Dign
View attachment 622132

That is a purty pic can I frame it ...lol

 

[63bkpkr]

Hi Drewan,
Like okbasspro says gold will go deep especially if it is a little bit larger than what you talked about. At times and in some places the fine gold is
only on the top, known as float gold. You are correct that IF there is gold it will be found on the downstream or back side of the boulder. Check
out posts oh here as well as on YouTube for basic prospecting or reading rivers and in your case especially the reading rivers. ANYthing that
causes the water to slow down wil have a low pressure side to it is where the "lazy gold" will automatically fall out. One boulder is a good sign but
SEVERAL boulders together is an even better sign of where to prospect at. This is where I found the nice gold I got in 2010, check my posts in
about Sept 2010 on Tnet and check out the pictures. A simple classifier is a very useful tool. My first was a Tuna Fish can, kind you can cut top
and bottom off with a can opener, I pop-rivited 1/8" mesh screen/hardware cloth to one end, it is very handy for sorting the big stuff out while
letting the fines go right into your gold pan........63bkpkr

 

[williamsingr]

Also keep in mind that panning in the stream is not always the best place to get gold, look higher up on the banks where the stream once was. Find those boulders up on the banks
and dig there down to the bedrock or clay, clay acts as false bedrock and traps gold also. Theres a guy in Colorado with a cool video up on where he finds his gold and some nice gold nuggets they are but he is not in the river finding them he is up on the banks. good luck

 

[mattisdell1983]

thanks everyone who responded, its a big help. im going to look on the banks under boulders and also when the river is not in flood condition lol. thanks for the help!

 

[Hoser John]

If you post where your at--as not on your profile--it would get you much more info as folks will help when they know the particuliar area your in-tons a au 2 u2 -John

 

[drewan29]

Hi Drewan,
Like okbasspro says gold will go deep especially if it is a little bit larger than what you talked about. At times and in some places the fine gold is
only on the top, known as float gold. You are correct that IF there is gold it will be found on the downstream or back side of the boulder. Check
out posts oh here as well as on YouTube for basic prospecting or reading rivers and in your case especially the reading rivers. ANYthing that
causes the water to slow down wil have a low pressure side to it is where the "lazy gold" will automatically fall out. One boulder is a good sign but
SEVERAL boulders together is an even better sign of where to prospect at. This is where I found the nice gold I got in 2010, check my posts in
about Sept 2010 on Tnet and check out the pictures. A simple classifier is a very useful tool. My first was a Tuna Fish can, kind you can cut top
and bottom off with a can opener, I pop-rivited 1/8" mesh screen/hardware cloth to one end, it is very handy for sorting the big stuff out while
letting the fines go right into your gold pan........63bkpkr

LOL 63,
wrong person I think you meant Mattisdell

 

[Hickory1]

Finding flour or flake gold is far more common than the nuggets one dreams of. Patience is a requirement if you are going to prospect, it is not a "hobby" for those who give up easily; if gold were easy to find, merely sitting on the surface, everyone would be doing it. One thing you will learn is that there will be gold where they say there is none and none where they say there is some....gold is where you find it. All gold is worth "snuffing" up in a bottle.....even if say it took you all summer to reach a ounce...depending on the market value at the time you have to consider what other hobby can actually pay you back? I would consider any gold in a snuffer bottle to be money in the bank no matter the size...remember, it all adds up.

 

[Lanny in AB]

You've been given some great advice already. Plus, it really helps if you research carefully, and if you've already done that, and the stream you're working is supposed to produce nice gold (what size are you looking for?), then re-read the above replies.

Now, having said all of that, you need to learn to look for traps for gold. Yes, you can read about the regular places (on the downstream side of a log, or rock obstruction, or boulder) that trap gold, and they do; however, if you're in a stream that's been worked hard, you're going to have to do a bit better than that.

One of the best places to find, if you know how to look for it, is a suction eddy. Now, a suction eddy would have formed when the river was running high, and it may be off to the side of a big batch of boulders, or a bedrock outcrop, or where a smaller stream intersects the larger stream, but the telltale signs will be a gouge in the bank or brush roots exposed in the bank, or a nest of soccer ball or watermelon-sized rocks tossed up on the bank or tossed on a sheet of parallel bedrock. (In a suction eddy, the river cuts back on itself [think of a whirlpool on the side of a stream] and in doing so, it pulls out heavier materials that would normally whistle on by: logs, nails, iron spikes, fishing weights, chunks of magnetite and hematite, galena, and of course, sassy chunks of gold!)

If you find an area like that, clean it right down to bedrock and if there are cracks and crevices in the bedrock, clean them all out. Most beginners fail to realize how heavy gold is and how far down it will work itself if given the opportunity. Plus, the nice thing about a suction eddy is that they renew themselves every season, or they are created brand-new in a completely virgin spot! And, always, always think of specific gravity while you ponder this, for if the stream disgorged rocks the size of watermelons and soccer balls into the suction eddy, it would also spit the gold in there as well.

I've found enough nuggets and coarse gold (as well as flake and fine gold) this way to never, ever overlook a suction eddy, especially in the springtime before anyone else has had the chance to check one out. Oh, and by the way, the gold may be just under the water as well, usually in shallow water (atop clay or bedrock) along the edge of the stream where the water was once maybe three feet higher when the river was in flood stage.

As well, don't be afraid to crack bedrock when you find nesting boulders resting on it. Moreover, I dredge for gold and I've watched gold skitter around a boulder and then disappear into a crack lickety-split! It happens super-fast, so respect that when you find a gold trap and investigate any underlying bedrock very carefully. Don't make the rookie mistake of only cleaning the surface of the bedrock--I repeat, don't just clean the surface, ever.

I've taken enough Rookies out now that if I want them to get some nice gold in their vial, I always take them to a spot with friable, or with fractured, bedrock that underlies a suction eddy, or a nest of boulders. Here's a rhyme to help you remember about suction eddies and obstructions on a river or stream: if the gold comes to a stop, it will drop. Remember--if it comes to a stop--it will drop. And, not only will it drop, but the bigger rocks dancing around on the bedrock in that jostling suction eddy will pound the bedrock ceaselessly, opening cracks that will let the gold drop even deeper, and hydraulic pressure will also force the gold down into the cracks because gold is almost twenty times as heavy as the water and almost ten times as heavy as the other, accompanying stream materials (rocks, oxidizing metals etc.).

All the best,

Lanny

 

[RickBr]

That's alot of great information Lanny. Thanks for the insight.

 

[ohiochris]

All good information given here. Dig , dig , dig , and then dig some more.

I find gold not only behind large rocks , but all the way around them and under them. God is just more likely to concentrate behind the rock , it will however get stuck in front of them and sometimes on the side....the underwater environment is a crazy one and when talking float gold or small flakes they can turn up anywhere. Look for sections of clay bottom , .........at the creek Im working now thats where 90% of the gold is , stuck in the top 1 inch of the clay.

But if you are finding a couple tiny flakes , that atleast proves there is gold in there , just be aware that its atleast "possible" that you have already found the average amount of gold for that particular stream or section of stream.

 

[FDray]

All good replies, Once helping to clean up a stream, an old car tire on the edge of the slow flow side produced the most gold I have ever found behind a boulder! Gold is were ya find it!

 

[Hickory1]

There are many books and videos on how to find ancient river beds and/or where the river would be at a flood stage such as snow melt, heavy rains, etc., Yes, find bedrock up from the river....dig around this or suction out with a hand dredge or tools it's cracks and crevices. You will notice in this area that the trees, brush, etc., are greener than the surrounding area, indicative of a ancient stream bed. As one poster stated, all of these things require research, watching videos from those who know, and tons of reading....I have been reading for around 5 years straight and just now I have been successful and able to mentor others with my knowledge. Much of it they don't really need to know since most who want to prospect don't have the patience or interest other than to get rich quick; my interest is in geology period and if gold comes or gems as I have found, it is my reward for having taken the time to learn. One man in particular has a great video using plants to identify ancient river beds and gold loving plants, I believe from recollection he's from BC. My best to you in your searches!

 

[Hickory1]

Lanny, just wanted to mention too that gold can be found in front of the rock, not just the downstream side....think about it, if gold is big enough the rock or boulder acts like a "stop" and there it sits. They have found this to be true by accounts of many old prospectors. Like I said, it makes sense....My thing is to check front and back of boulders or rocks....it seems to be true for me.

 

[Hickory1]

Read, study, read, study some more.......gold is where you find it and if you STUDY through reading or experience you will see the patterns of where gold will be......don't be lazy and head out to a stream with a pan....it will only disappoint you! READ...learn geology.....to rely on the old salts for what you should learn as they have through years of searching for gold is what I would consider rather lazy.....READ, READ, READ!!!

 

[Hickory1]

Okba: your photos are nothing more than you putting up your finds, it does ZIP to help a younger prospector in what to look for, etc., I hate folks like this, just saying.....Teach him on what you looked for, etc., I am not impressed by your photos as they merely represent some sort of boasting from you yet you offer no help to him in how you found it'; the part of goldmining I hate coming from someone like you.

 

[TAKODA]

Okba: your photos are nothing more than you putting up your finds, it does ZIP to help a younger prospector in what to look for, etc., I hate folks like this, just saying.....Teach him on what you looked for, etc., I am not impressed by your photos as they merely represent some sort of boasting from you yet you offer no help to him in how you found it'; the part of goldmining I hate coming from someone like you.

Hey okbasspro , I like to see pics of other folks gold finds from anywhere in the USA
and other countries too . I just like to know what state or country it's from .
I don't need to know every detail about it , I just like to see the pics .

If Hick#1 don't like it she don't have to look at it . Post them pics anytime you want to
dude . That's part of what a forum like this is for anyhow .