Found a Gold Patch

[nuggeteer]

Hello all,
Eager to get out after finding my first nugget with this detector, late last week in the midst of triple digit heat I took to my bike again. A few miles north of that find, I located a stretch of tailings heaps along a shallow gulch; evidently the site of an old ground sluicing operation similar to many others I've detected in this area of Northern California. I stopped to flip through my stack of area maps to make an often difficult determination of land status, but the choppy yellow on the BLM spread assured me that I was indeed on public land. So, I stashed my bike and followed the workings about a quarter-mile uphill to where it looked like the miners had left off. The manzanita was sparse so I didn't have to crawl, the tan metavolcanic bedrock was shallow, and there was no evidence of anyone having detected this spot. Thus, I donned my headphones, ground balanced to 66.7 and began...
Midday cumulus clouds hung motionless over the nearby mountains, refusing me a much needed shade and I was left to continue soaking in my green polyester shirt which by now had sun bleached to a mottled brown. Nevertheless, a couple of hours later and a pocketful of lead richer, I got yet another lead signal. Figuring it was just more birdshot, I slumped to my knees with my little plastic shovel and started skimming off the surface, dumping it onto the coil. The detector "zipped," and I brushed away the dust to where only a lump of clay remained. Anxious to get back to detecting I quickly began rolling the dirty clod in my fingers, ready to plunk it into my pocket with the rest of the lead. However, the flakes of dry clay shed away and from this once lackluster lump it looked as if the sun smiled up at me... Gold!
I didn't find anymore pieces that day but I returned for several straight days and have snagged a total of 12 pieces. Each day I recognized fainter signals and found smaller and deeper gold.
The pieces are rough; several have quartz and iron host rock intact, unlike the smooth stuff I've panned. Finds ranged at depths of .5 to 3 inches and sat atop a thick orange clay, particularly along the edges of newly formed washes where debris could accumulate. The patch is small, encompassing about 400 square feet, and from all observations appears to be an island of elevated bedrock. Around it, the bedrock dips to at least a foot below the surface; too deep for my detector. I know this patch isn't dry yet and I'm tempted to dig down a bit, but adding a shovel to my bikeload on a 29 mile round trip is sketchy.
I started focusing more on the tones than the display and figured out some techniques with the GB Pro to find some tiny pieces. I'll have to revisit some of the places I detected before I knew how to use this machine. Of all the experimenting I've done with this detector, it seems like the only way I've learned how to find gold with it is by actually finding some. Anyone know what I mean?

Below: the patch, the clay with embedded quartz, the gold

 

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[Aufisher]

Whoa! Awesome story, nice gold! Way to go!

 

[nuggeteer]

Thanks Aufisher! Glad you enjoyed.

 

[shepcal]

Pretty gold!

 

[Aufisher]

Keep at it my friend!

 

[killian110]

Swinging a detector for a couple of hours in Triple digit heat and a 29 miles roundtrip on a bicycle! You deserve every one of those nuggets. You're my hero! Congrats, I hope that patch keeps giving up the goodies.

 

[Aufisher]

Looks like a banner nomination to me!

 

[Ausgoldhunter]

Very nice! Would love to find a patch like that.

 

[nuggetshooter323]

Looks like a banner nomination to me!

For some reason we rarely seem to get banners.

 

[nuggetshooter323]

Great work on finding that patch! As you clean out what's in range of your detector, you're going to need to start skimming layers of the clay off until you get down to bedrock. You're probably going to get more nuggets as you go.

 

[johnedoe]

The roughness of those nuggets tells me they haven't traveled very far..... I would be putting some serious time into that location.
Good luck and I hope you can find the source.

I think I would also be looking into a PI type detector......

And remember, Lead is @ 95 cents a pound. It all adds up....$$$$

 

[Hard Prospector]

Great work on finding that patch! As you clean out what's in range of your detector, you're going to need to start skimming layers of the clay off until you get down to bedrock. You're probably going to get more nuggets as you go.

Great advice nuggetshooter, also going through with different coils and even machines can make a patch continue to pay until its completely "mopped up'

 

[nuggetshooter323]

Great advice nuggetshooter, also going through with different coils and even machines can make a patch continue to pay until its completely "mopped up'

Very true, different machines, different coils, and I would even say different days with the same equipment. You can go over an area and feel like you got everything, and go back a week later, same machine, same coil, and still find more in the same place. It's hard to say you can ever really clean an area out totally. Nuggeteer since you only have the hockey puck for the GB Pro, as a companion detector you might want to think about getting the Falcon MD-20. They're inexpensive, and they'll detect smaller gold than your GB Pro, and they're great for crevices. The long probe is waterproof, so you can stick it in water.

 

[nuggetshooter323]

Sorry I just noticed that they make a 10" elliptical for the GB Pro, that's another choice that's about the same price as the Falcon MD-20. The larger coil might save you some digging. I know for my LST and GMT the 10" elliptical is my most used coil. An elliptical coil by it's design is more sensitive than a round coil. On a round coil, the wire in the edge of the coil is the same distance from any other edge. On an elliptical coil, the tips are more sensitive because the wires in the coil edge are closer together, so more sensitivity. Some of the GB Pro only guys might tell you that all you need is the puck, that's not true. No matter the brand, different coils always increase your chances.

 

[H-2 CHARLIE]

I would stake out a 4 * 4 area dig it up about 18 inches down and rake it out then hit it with you GOLDBUG , if it produces dig another area next to it

 

[nuggeteer]

Hi johnedoe,
It does look like they all come from a single source. I've been looking into the PI detectors... maybe after some more gold, or a couple thousand pounds of lead!

 

[nuggeteer]

Hey nuggetshooter323,
Thanks! Great advice! I'll definitely look into the Falcon MD-20. A guy at the local mining store seemed pretty convinced that the 10" elliptical for the GB Pro could double the depth.

 

[trinityau]

Hey Nuggeteer, good luck on trying to find a source in our area. I detect the same types of areas that you show in your picture. The zone that you came upon is about as close to the source as you are going to get. Our area is pocket country and there are not many other places in California like ours. The gold is generally coarse and nuggety. In most places going to bedrock will not give better results. Some of the Redding areas you will do better getting to bedrock but most of these will be indentified with river rock where either the Sacramento, Clear Creek,or the old Cottonwood channels deposited gold. At those locations you will find smooth pieces along with coarser pocket gold in the same mix.

To do better at a location as you show I would go to the peripheral areas of the dig. Using a combination of PI and VLF will produce if the old timers made a mistake and did not follow the true direction of the pocket. I have done this many times over and have done very well. Not to take away from your find but you are getting pieces that were left behind by the original digger. Look around all these areas as you detect them and you will start to see similarities at the digs. These similarities will guide you to patterns in the undeveloped ground that you are seeking. Learning to spot these patterns is critical to the pocket hunter using a detector. The first time you come onto a line that some old timer left off on and you get a better signal as you start to dig and your signal starts to disseminate because you are breaking undisturbed ground that is full of nuggets, then you understand what I am saying. The nuggets are separating from each other and as you pull your pick back towards yourself the gold rolls off to the side like a plow tilling earth would do. This is when you are onto a patch. I have done this many times around our area. The feeling is out of this world, and after you have handpicked the nuggets you can see from the yellow/white clay soil and you think it cannot get any better, it does with the next pull of the pick. I love it, although it has been over a year now since my last good patch I still remember picking literally ounces of nuggets out of the soil. These lines do stop however and then you are back to seeking another virgin line or where somebody made a mistake and its everyday detecting for a while. They are out there though.

The MD is a very good probe for the smaller gold but again in our area most of the gold is nuggetty. I use the GB Pro with the ten inch eliptical coil. This combination has proven out for me. This coil is very sensitive on the tip, I would say almost twice as much sensitivity than the five inch round. I think this is what a friend of mine what saying at his store. The main body of the ten inch coil will go quite a bit deeper than the five inch round. I have found pieces near two or three pennyweight at twelve to fourteen inches.

Before getting something that will push you towards the recovery of the tinier pieces that we just dont have much of I would look at getting a PI and upgrading your present coil to a ten inch on the Pro. We have lots of detectable gold in our area and I myself prefer to spend time finding a patch that pays. You found a nice little spot but wait till you find a real patch in our area that has not been found by another detectorist yet. Believe me they are here and sounds like you dont mind spending the time searching so you will come upon a real nice patch soon.

Shoot me an PM with a phone number and maybe we can get together sometime. TRINITYAU/RAYMILLS

 

[IDdesertman]

I will second Ray's experience with the GBPro, I have really grown to like the 10" elliptical. Just started using it this season and find that it is a great combo of size and sensitivity. Very easy to pinpoint and recover items with the tip of the coil. Keep up the good work man, sweet chunky little nuggs!

 

[Tonkalong]

Great find Nuggeteer,
Now you need to get a 5000 and you will be surprised what you missed.
Hire one if you cannot afford one.

Well done and keep up the good work.

Cheers....Tonkalong