Geological maps

[ctjonb]

Hello all I was wondering when it comes to looking at the geological maps which of the types of rocks do I wantto focus on ? the schist and quartzite area's only ? looking at these maps im unsure any help in interpriting them would be great, Thank You john

 

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[vuggy]

An old-timer told me you can look for the faults, combined with the the contact zones. Some geological maps will not show the faults, but some online mapping systems will allow you to layer the fault lines on top of other geo-layers. Then you'll have to know how to read the fault lines on the maps (surface vs. guesstimated lines) and transpose them to the field terrain. Gets complicated if you get that deep into the armchair prospecting!

 

[vtgoldprospector]

Hello all I was wondering when it comes to looking at the geological maps which of the types of rocks do I wantto focus on ? the schist and quartzite area's only ? looking at these maps im unsure any help in interpriting them would be great, Thank You john

From what I understand, the region you are prospecting has bearing on what you are looking for. There are general rules that apply to many places (eg near other base materials) but is only a vague relation. Sometimes you just need to be near something volcanic which can be any host rock with veins of quartz/gold. Some deposits are alluvial but the dirt was turned to stone at some point. I think the materials that can be of interest are silver, copper, iron and asbestos, not metamorphic but maybe mafic/ultra-mafic and schists. But that is a generalization to my area and may not apply to you.

Side note, may be of help, may not...
"Stay up to date"
You might want to look into the different bedrock maps available for your area.. Vermont for example has several maps from different years that have considerable differences. They just released a 2011 version which has an additional vector format (Google Earth overlay with a popup legend of what you click on) which is way easier. In addition, the more recent the map the better the detail and accuracy due to the tech advances.

I hope something was of help.

VTGP

 

[russau]

another map (if availiable for your state) would be a soil survey. Missouri has done this and made it ava. to the public for a price. they sampled all of Missouris soils to see what the state is made up of. it points out glacial material areas. good places to give a lookie see for pontential gold deposits.

 

[Hoser John]

I much prefer --for placer especially-Orthoquadrotopographic so you can see whatzup in high relief-John

 

[ctjonb]

Thanks for the input everyone I appriciate a lot, deff a help
Thank you john

 

[vtgoldprospector]

another map (if availiable for your state) would be a soil survey. Missouri has done this and made it ava. to the public for a price. they sampled all of Missouris soils to see what the state is made up of. it points out glacial material areas. good places to give a lookie see for pontential gold deposits.

Thank you for that addition of soil map. I agree that is an excellent idea.

 

[TerryC]

I much prefer --for placer especially-Orthoquadrotopographic so you can see whatzup in high relief-John

John, I am very interested in the 5 dollar word of your post but cannot google it up. Can you expound for me so I might look into it? Tnx. TTC

 

[TerryC]

another map (if availiable for your state) would be a soil survey. Missouri has done this and made it ava. to the public for a price. they sampled all of Missouris soils to see what the state is made up of. it points out glacial material areas. good places to give a lookie see for pontential gold deposits.

Try this guys List of Soil Surveys by State | NRCS Soils TTC

 

[PYRATE]

John, I am very interested in the 5 dollar word of your post but cannot google it up. Can you expound for me so I might look into it? Tnx. TTC

I disagree that "Orthoquadrotopographic" is a $5 word, though I do like it and thus will give it a value of about 78 cents as a great mishmash of other words.

Ortho quads are aerial photo maps produced by USGS for each quadrangle ( Digital orthophoto quadrangle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia )

While I've not seen an actual USGS product that includes both topo lines and aerial photos on a 7.5 minute scale, but if they did offer one "Orthoquadrotopographic" would be a beautiful name.

I use online GIS mapping with both aerial photo and topo overlays so I can see the lay of the land as well as the surface features.

The best source of these maps depends upon the location. In NC, some counties have incredible GIS data available on the county website and others are very lacking. You can also find some incredible information if you are able to find historic maps for the area. (check websites at local universities, your State Historic Preservation Office or local governments/libraries/historical groups)

 

[dave wiseman]

What's important is the correct zones of mineralization.You can be surrounded by all kinds of mines and yet be in barren ground.Besides the geological maps,check out the mining reports from the state and fed gov't..these will clue you in.

 

[russau]

Terry thankyou for that link to the soil survey. theres lots to learn there!