Creek question; gold distribution and flooding.

[idowa]

I worked a creek today for 8 hours that I know has gold in it. I focused on a very promising looking section that was about 25 yards long. Didn't get anything sluicing, panning, or metal detecting...

I tried the inside bank sand bar, below the rapids in the deep hole along the rock face, etc.

I loaded up and left dejected and decided to stop and talk to a friend of mine who lives nearby and BS with him.

He told me that the creek is unique because of the massive flooding it gets every monsoon season. He said that the gold in it is in very few pockets, but there is a lot of gold to be found once you find such a pocket.

I have witnessed this creek go from less than a foot deep and 4' across to a 10' deep and 50' across raging river that sweeps cars, people, and livestock miles down stream.

Could such catastrophic flooding every year cause gold to be found only in rare pockets? If so, how do I identify those pockets?

Here are pics from today of the area I was working...

 

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[Astrobouncer]

Nice pics!

Look for natural riffles that will act like a sluice box and catch the gold during those big flood stages. Mother nature does most of the work for ya. Bedrock cracks, behind those big boulders (and under em) and places where the river widens dramatically after a narrow section should all be good. But if other prospectors beat you to the punch and already worked those areas, you might have to keep digging till you find a spot they missed. Good luck and take more pics! Keep at it and you will hit it eventually.

 

[idowa]

This area is on a private ranch, and I know the landowner on which access to the creek is.

So, there is nobody else working this creek for about a 10-mile stretch.

I just spent a couple of hours watching sluicing videos and I was doing it all wrong... I need to classify my material much further down and get a real sluice box...

 

[B H Prospector]

Hi,
If the creek floods to 50' wide look up on the banks for gravel deposits left after the flood receeded and dig around and under large boulders up on the bank and in the creek like Astro suggested. Look for anything that might catch gold during flood stage.

Good luck!

B H Prospector

 

[russau]

wow! looks nice! is there any equipment restrictions there?

 

[idowa]

wow! looks nice! is there any equipment restrictions there?

I have no idea; I'm just sluicing and panning... The creek runs through a private ranch, but I can be anywhere on the creek and up to flood stage due to public waterways laws.

Some of the deep holes are 6'+ deep, and no way to get to the bottom of them to look without some power equipment and serious equipment, which I'm not about to bring in there. I can barely get in with my 4x4 ATV...

 

[Astrobouncer]

So, there is nobody else working this creek for about a 10-mile stretch.

If you setup the sluice right, you can sluice with just about anything. All you have to do is get enough flow (or drop) going through it where the lighter blond sands are being swept off. In between a couple of those rocks by those rapids look like a good place to set up.

I dont mean modern prospectors. I mean the guys who were first on the land and already worked it, from the 1800s or so. There aint too many places they didn't find + work already, especially if there was good gold there. True there's been redeposition of au bearing material since they worked these places, but keep an eye out for hard packed riverbed, that seems to be where I find my best gold (in the places that have already been worked by the old timers).

 

[Hoser John]

Where you want to be is where any canyon opens up and the floodplain begins as the gold drops out IMMEDIATELY except non paying float,which never adds up worth squat anyhow-tons a au 2 u 2 -John

 

[Armchair prospector]

You spent 8 hours sluicing when you should have spent the time test panning. Just by digging in an area is no gaurantee. By what you find test panning will give you a better reason to dig in that certain area. You may test areas for for a long stretch before you find enough color in your pan to actually start digging. Work smart , not hard. Also look for possible crevises in bedrock if there is any. You'll be pleasantly surprised to find that sometimes you'll do better cleaning out a crevice than all that digging.

 

[idowa]

Great tips, guys!

Much appreciated.

 

[ohiochris]

You need to determine if the gold is washing into the stream from your location , or from an isolated source upstream. If flooding is washing it in all along the stream then I think usually if the stream is really straight then the gold wouldnt normally go far from the bank once it washes in. I would do a lot of digging and test pans to see if I could locate it.

 

[kuger]

I see two places in that one pic,I sure would have test panned!!