Am i gettin a decent amount?

[A#1]

Keep in mind, I'm in northern Michigan, not known for its rich gold.

My method of prospecting at the moment is limited by time. I get by a creek that I have a feeling about, and i just walk in, and shovel out a 3 gallon bucket of creekbed from places that i think might have gold. Low flow gravelly spots usually.

I run that material through a recirculating Le Trap sluice at home, and pan the concentrates.

I usually get 5 or 6 flakes from 3 gallons of material. Down as low as 1, and as many as 11.

Should I consider that fair?

I've gotten at least one flake everywhere I've tried, never been skunked.

 

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[smokeythecat]

For your state, you are doing very well.

 

[et1955]

Think of it this way, the better you get in finding gold in your state and then go to a state that is richer you will be the master, I found my first piece of gold on a creek that is very hard to find gold but I continued on for the next year developing my skills and when a certain river opened up near by I found over 1/3 of an oz. in 4 hours. the skills you learn from a gold poor area will benefit you when you get to gold rich areas.

 

[Bonaro]

If you are having fun then you are getting enough.

In a gold bearing stream, the amount of gold you recover is directly related to the amount of gravel you process. Your process is slow. A better way would be to take your LeTrap to the stream and process the stream bank material directly. Then clean up the sluice and take only the concentrates home to pan if time is an issue.

If you cant sluice in the stream then at lease screen off the gravel before you lug it home. For instance: If you know the gold is always going to be finer than 1/16" then you can screen off and toss back everything larger than 1/8" This will reduce the amount of waste you pack home significantly.

 

[arizau]

That^^^^or do some production panning and take those concentrates home. Production panning: Add material to pan and pan down to where what is in the pan is mostly black sands, add more material to the pan and repeat until you have a cup or two of black sands left in the pan. Save that and start the process over again. At the end of the day you will have several cups, maybe even a gallon of concentrated material to process at home and you will have processed several times the 3 gallons of raw feed you usually take home to process.

 

[goldog]

Only you can know. If you are getting gold keep getting. If others in your area are getting more figure out why. 1,3-4,11 flakes sounds good. But for comparison purposes a measurement would be helpful to you. Grains is best. Then around $2-$2.50 a grain. A lot use grams. 🤯.

 

[A#1]

Yeh, the problem is mostly the law.

Nearly everything within a hundred miles is some form of a protected stream, private, or I have to leapfrog a half mile of swamp knobs to get there.

Sluicing in the water is legal with a permit, but only for 2 months a year. So, I've been using mine at home, and gradually making it more portable to run in a campsite.

The material I've gotten so far was either illegal, before I learned the law, or legal in passing while I was headed somewhere else.

Most was sifted with a 1/4" sifter, to increase what I was carrying out.

Next weekend I plan to finally get out where it's completely legal and give it a real shot.

I think I'll look into the production panning more too. That might be useful.

All in all, I'm enjoying it, but I think that's gonna wear off before long. Mainly because it's kind of a nuisance brought on by the state. But time will tell, I aint ready to throw in the towel yet.

 

[goldog]

Illegal is a strong word. Outlaw is my preferred term🤠. The only crime is that dirt off public land could be illegal 🤬. Some areas like a national park or something. But ...🤯

 

[A#1]

Illegal is a strong word. Outlaw is my preferred term🤠. The only crime is that dirt off public land could be illegal 🤬. Some areas like a national park or something. But ...🤯

Actually, I called it pirate dirt, cause i got pirate gold from it......but I'm a dork like that.

It's just state land, mineral rights check out, but turns out it's a "designated trout stream".....which is silly because its a foot wide, and 4 inches deep, and there aint no fish. Just a lot of tree huggers that think they're hobby is better I guess.

Beautiful stream too, got flake everywhere I looked. Convenient too, I could stop everyday on my way home from work.

 

[johnedoe]

Some pictures would be nice.......

 

[A#1]

Some pictures would be nice.......

Happy to oblige....pictures of what though?

 

[johnedoe]

You ask if you were getting a decent amount..... The description, I usually get 5 or 6 flakes from 3 gallons of material. Down as low as 1, and as many as 11.What constitutes a flake to some is fly crap to another....So your statement really doesn't tell us squat..........
So.... Some pics of the gold then we can answer your question.....
Not trying to bust yer balls here just trying to get some perspective.


Is this a decent amount? ... It depends...... I would say yes considering the material and time involved to recover it..
It took about 3 hours and about 1 yard of beach sand to get it. Am I gonna quite my day job? Nope....

That is 8.36 grain... that is a wee bit over a 1/2 gram.

 

[A#1]

No worry about ball bustin. I was looking for an honest reality check from those more knowledgable than me.

Not knowing of anyone else prospecting in my area, I just dont know whether to think "I'm doin good"...or..."You suck at this"

I think its fly poop, but varied in size really. I forgot to mention one tiny lil nugget too.

but this is my take, from about 25 gallons of material

 

[A#1]

A couple more angles

 

[johnedoe]

OK ... Thank's for the pics.
With a little modification in your processing you will definitely do better.

arizau hit on a very good point... Use your time to work material then take the cons home instead of just taking buckets of bank run material home...
Your doing fine and you will improve.

What I get is very small in comparison to many that get into good locations. But I live on the coast and good prospecting areas are far enough away that it takes more than just a day trip. My little beach is about 15 minutes away and it gets me off the couch for some much needed exercise, and a little bit of gold most of the time.

 

[Capt Nemo]

Actually, I called it pirate dirt, cause i got pirate gold from it......but I'm a dork like that.

It's just state land, mineral rights check out, but turns out it's a "designated trout stream".....which is silly because its a foot wide, and 4 inches deep, and there aint no fish. Just a lot of tree huggers that think they're hobby is better I guess.

Beautiful stream too, got flake everywhere I looked. Convenient too, I could stop everyday on my way home from work.

The designated salmon/trout stream is Michigan's way to tie up everything. In one spot every stream in the county is so marked even though the trout/salmon can't even get in the stream to spawn.

But then again, most of the DNR up there don't even know where the fire roads are, so you're pretty safe digging! Just stay away from the attractions like parks and campgrounds. That's what I've gotten from the local renegades.

 

[goldog]

It’s good to put something for scale. I like US coinage. For the Liberty. That seems to be where we’re going in this thread. Pirate, Outlaw... It’s about Liberty in my mind.

PS: Not my gold. Many years of multiple people living on the river went into this pan.