Any Michigan gold panners out there?

[jglunt]

I live on the Muskegon River and have been giving some thought to maybe trying some panning when or if the weather ever breaks and I could use some expert advice on equipment, techniques, reading the river for productive areas, etc. especially if there's someone out there who has panned the Muskegon or other Michigan rivers. Of course the advisor is invited to join in the fun.

I've read articles that indicate the Muskegon has produced placer gold in the past and in some places, good quantity.

 

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[SaginawIan]

I'd be interested to know if there are any Michigan gold panners to b/c I've often wondered if there was gold to be found here.

ian

 

[thompy]

i bought some pans last year but haven't gotten out with them, i think most of the gold is flour gold, in the Marquette area Ive seen it in the streams, mostly in the spring. when i was about 10 we put a well in at my grandpa's place, the drill forced water into the casing to float the dirt out. we were about 17ft and the black sand started to come out then a pretty good flow of gold dust came out, you should have seen my brother and i jumping around, Grandpa said screw that gold have to get this well put in. there are a few old hard rock mines a couple miles up the road from there, i always said if it were my place i would have a tunnel under the basement. for this reason i bought a T-2 for the summer. there has to be some nuggets in the area, don't believe the glaciers pushed it all south to you guys

 

[bbqbull]

There is a yahoo group for michigan gold panning.
Here is the link. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/M_G_P/

Might want to check it out.

 

[jopher]

i bought some pans last year but haven't gotten out with them, i think most of the gold is flour gold, in the Marquette area Ive seen it in the streams, mostly in the spring. when i was about 10 we put a well in at my grandpa's place, the drill forced water into the casing to float the dirt out. we were about 17ft and the black sand started to come out then a pretty good flow of gold dust came out, you should have seen my brother and i jumping around, Grandpa said screw that gold have to get this well put in. there are a few old hard rock mines a couple miles up the road from there, i always said if it were my place i would have a tunnel under the basement. for this reason i bought a T-2 for the summer. there has to be some nuggets in the area, don't believe the glaciers pushed it all south to you guys

I was in the U.P.camping about 15 years ago.I was in the Lake Ruth area and there was a small abandon gold mine not far from there.I did not have a detector then but I did spend some time digging through the rocks in the small tailing piles.I managed to find a couple pieces of quartz with traces of gold and one chunk/nugget about the size of a pencil eraser embedded in a piece of broken rock.Dont have them to show as my wife thought they were something the kids drug in and threw them out.Dont remember exactly where the mine was but it was on the Mi atlas map.Might be a good place to check out with a detector....Joe

 

[thompy]

the first mine up from my gradpa's was a silvermine that never really produced, they blew up the entrance by the river, but climb up about 700ft then down 50 there are a couple of shafts with quartz tailings piles, with hairline fractures with silver i assume running through them, but i know some lead is in the general area, one of these days i figure how to post some pictures and put some picture up. i live 120 mile south of there and last week they received 4 ft of snow, here we had none,and the snow was just about cleared up . i though around lake ruth they mined for ore, but gold can be found from Marquette county through to Copper country and Ontanogan. is lake ruth part of the three lakes chain or is it a nother lake

 

[whiskyrivercowboy]

i live on the au sable river have found lots of flower gold every time i pan

 

[MRBeyer]

If you were seeing gold in the outflow water from the well with your eyes alone and not having to pan or separate it then you have a very high concentration. You really should try to write down all the info you can remember, including the depth. That high a concentration is what placer miners dream of. Used to fish and hike the Grand Marais area. I envy you living in that area, harsh but beautiful.

 

[thompy]

i know it was around 17 feet and it was a pretty heavy flow of flower gold, i will have to take my pan and check out around there, my aunt owns the place now, i checked down by the lake which is about a hundred feet from the well and didn't find the layer of black sand or gold. the area around here is really strange as far as gravel, sand, clay, sand stone, the softer deposits are more in pockets than in consistant layers. you could dig 4 twenty ft. deep pits in a 100 yards, and each may contain different properties. planning to get up that way this weekend around the hard rock gold mines and walking the valleys, a buddy from the Baraga area just bought the X-70, after finding some flakes in his area, we'll check it out and help him get use to detecting at the same time.

 

[checkmate]

I've read articles that indicate the Muskegon has produced placer gold in the past and in some places, good quantity.

jglunt what part of the Muskegon river are you on ? I have heard that gold has been found in the Newago area.

 

[jglunt]

jglunt what part of the Muskegon river are you on ? I have heard that gold has been found in the Newago area.

I'm quite a way upstream from Newaygo around the Hersey area.

 

[Steve in Michigan]

I've panned near the dams in Glennie and found some flour gold. I need to get back up there and do some more.

Your Friend,

Steve in Michigan

 

[lostmichigan]

muskegon river gold. its there if you look.

I live in the hersey area too. After MUCH research I've been finding small pickers and flour. I'm determined to find a paystreak on the muskegon. I know there here. Anyway we should get together and do some panning.

 

[flakefinder]

There is gold out there , but going to have to look hard for a good spot and not going to get rich but still fun to do, I have been panning in southern Mich for a while and have done ok. I would look check out some of the feeder creeks flowing in to the Muskegon river. All you need is a pan to get started, Good luck and enjoy its a good time!

 

[colddigger]

I just started this whole "chase" about a year ago with my now ex-girlfriend. With a river running thru her backyard I walked out and pulled some gravel. A flake! Being that I have a job and could only go out enough, for the whole summer,to pull about 20-5 gallon pails ( +/- half yard) I found copper, garnets, and chunky nuggs. There is gold in SE Michigan. Here's the pics and this is what I use. I have had people laugh at me, boaters, and family say I'm crazy. I will not get rich doing this, I have stayed in shape because it's a lot of work and it tests your endurance. This took about 100 hours of my life, start to finish, alone about 2 hrs a bucket just to classify and get out of the river. 1.78 oz and I barley scratched it! This is in Washtenaw Co. Michigan. I went out in Dec. and I hit a yellow clay about 2ft down on a outside bend of a sand bar sitting on cobble. I ran it ( 1/2 bucket) and had a whole lot of flake. Does anyone know about yellow clay?

 

[Taterade]

On the huron? Or tributaries? I'm going to bring some sluices to the huron this summer.

 

[Capt Nemo]

Hit the beach between Grand Maris and Deer Park last week, and hit some flour and a couple of possible platinum flakes. Last year I saw values of 1-1.5 g per yard, but it's been washed out this winter.

 

[GoldPanningZone]

I have been panning prospecting central Michigan for many years. I have found flour gold in the Maple River near 127, the Grand River in Saranac, streams in Fallasburg Park in Lowell, and in all of the streams near where I live (about 20 miles north of Lansing). Never found anything that will make me rich, but it's pretty cool just being able to say that all the gold I have found is from Michigan waters.

Good luck in your panning!

 

[newbAu]

Here is some of my gold from last spring. This is from tributaries in S.E. Michigan.