First Time Hunting Gold, Found No Gold LOL ;-) (SoCal)

[Rehctelf]

I took my new Minelab SDC 2300 out for 3 hours to three different nooks and crannies around Red Mountain in Ventura, CA. The only ping I got turned out to be an old iron filing. And, once I got the ping, it took me 20 minutes to find the filing even though it was only 2 inches below the surface LOL. Still, proof of concept … and, I learned a lot ;-)

... and no, I didn't find Joaquin Murrieta's lost gold ;-(

On a side note, these are two of the areas I was searching. I'm not really sure what I am supposed to be looking for yet, but the rock formations looked unique so I checked them out. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.


Area 1


Area 2

 

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[russau]

BUT I'll bet you had a good time even though you didnt find any gold !

 

[Rehctelf]

BUT I'll bet you had a good time even though you didnt find any gold !

100% ;-)

 

[Goldwasher]

View attachment 1827981

I took my new Minelab SDC 2300 out for 3 hours to three different nooks and crannies around Red Mountain in Ventura, CA. The only ping I got turned out to be an old iron filing. And, once I got the ping, it took me 20 minutes to find the filing even though it was only 2 inches below the surface LOL. Still, proof of concept … and, I learned a lot ;-)

... and no, I didn't find Joaquin Murrieta's lost gold ;-(

On a side note, these are two of the areas I was searching. I'm not really sure what I am supposed to be looking for yet, but the rock formations looked unique so I checked them out. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

View attachment 1827982
Area 1

View attachment 1827983
Area 2[/
maphttps://westernmininghistory.com/mine_county/california/ventura/
some infohttps://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-12-30-vl-13604-story.html
some older threads http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/gold-prospecting/340613-ventura-county-ca.html

here http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/metal-detecting-gold/404956-questions-about-ventura-county-ca.html


and always land matters Welcome to Land Matters

 

[beekbuster]

area #2 looks promising, but you would need a source up hill from it in order for there to be anything caught it the bedrock. Look for hand made rock piles, that is an excellent indicator. look for hand digs. Dont confuse dozer cuts with hand dug excavations. Its easy to do sometimes

 

[EccentricInTexas]

Any Creek Beds or dry washes. If there is bed rock anywhere that would be good too. That second photo would be an area to check. Here if you are in a creek or river bed and start finding bullets, sinkers and lead shot you know you are in the right area for gold to be trapped as well. Best of luck, nugget hunting is on my bucket list of things to do one day!!!