Gold panning in Greece!

[Antmath]

Hello guys! I am new in gold prospecting so far and I am currently in need of some assistance from the pros! I have bought the basic equipment, a pan and a classifier. Oh, I have to mention that I live in Greece and specifically on an island. Let me tell you the backstory: there are two mountains which both Of them were active volcanos. Researches have be done in the past and showed that there is gold on those mountains, or in at least. So, we have the two mountains and some rivers crossing between them down to the sea. I have found a nice place though where I can search for gold because it’s more easy to approach it. I have already panned some dirt but I only took material from some random places. There are some trees on the sides of the river and there is also a waterfall, also there are many rocks in a short distance of the river and bedrocks too. I will send some photos too when I will have the chance to visit the place again. Maybe on Monday. Anyway my question: do I have the chances of finding some gold? And if yes, where do I have to look specifically? If gold was found deep in the mountains is there any chance of it to be found in the river? And if we suppose that the river is located in the altitude of 300 meters and the peak of the mountains is on 751 meters is it possible that the gold would have gone so low? Thank you guys in advance and I apologize for my noobiness!

 

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[Antmath]

I will carry with me a crowbar I think I would be able to move large rocks. But for now I am going to wait until it rains because it’s too difficult to carry the material from that place. One more question, when the creek would be full of water where do.i have to look based on the photos I sent? Because I assume that I won’t have access to the bottom of the river to search underneath rocks or inside crevices of bedrocks.

 

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[RTR]

I will carry with me a crowbar I think I would be able to move large rocks. But for now I am going to wait until it rains because it’s too difficult to carry the material from that place. One more question, when the creek would be full of water where do.i have to look based on the photos I sent? Because I assume that I won’t have access to the bottom of the river to search underneath rocks or inside crevices of bedrocks.

That cliff in #4 pix. looks good.Looks like some quarts there.

 

[Antmath]

Yeah I thought so when I spotted it so I took some material from there too but I think that I need to remove all these rocks and clean the dirt and dig even deeper. But it has to rain first so I will be able to remove dirt and pan it at the same time. That cliff is about 3-4 meters away from the river but it has some nice looking cracks. I will post some new photos when I visit the place again hopefully with the river full of water

 

[Antmath]

So,i panned some dirt today,the results are rather dissapointing but i believe (if i am not wrong) that its because i took material which was on the surface so if i am not wrong again,this has to be more light than gold so maybe thats why i am not getting any black sand too.

That's what i am getting in every pan,everytime:

https://files.fm/u/xedt5rev#/view/017bcb3357d30ca2ceea492678296719b600576fe7.jpg

Mainly what stays behind is white,like sand or glass i dont know exactly what it has to be. No sign of black sand at all so far. I need to get deeper. Wherever there is a change of elevation the best place to look for gold is right where the water hits? I mean, if there will be a hole or something.

 

[Antmath]

Black sand should be deep right? And another thing,is it obligatory for gold to be inside black sand? I am asking because i cant keep panning if i dont see any signs of possible gold existance right? I will get back there tgough to take some material from a biggest depth. I will also move some bigger rocks to dig under and front of them. When it vomes to obstractrions like rocks lets say, the best place to search is front of them, like on the side which faces to the downstream side, right?

 

[RTR]

IF your POSITIVE there is gold (in the mountains above that creek) Gotta be gold in the creek.OR how about another creek , are there any ?
Looks like some quarts in your 1st pan pix.
Try moving some of those big boulders .Dig as deep as you can.Then pan some of that material .

How about an auger , Or a manual fence post digger ? To dig deeper,do you have one?

 

[Antmath]

I am going to visit the place again and dig into some places such us the pools that are formed due to change of elevations, benches and under some large rocks. I will use a shovel. There is a great amount of quartz (if that's what it is) but at least in the depth where i dug not any black sand. Anyway i have one last question. Consideing all of the above,are you suggesting me to keep searching upstream or downstream? Because last time i went downstream and specifically after the waterfall. How far from the river's bank you think i can dig?

 

[RTR]

I am going to visit the place again and dig into some places such us the pools that are formed due to change of elevations, benches and under some large rocks. I will use a shovel. There is a great amount of quartz (if that's what it is) but at least in the depth where i dug not any black sand. Anyway i have one last question. Consideing all of the above,are you suggesting me to keep searching upstream or downstream? Because last time i went downstream and specifically after the waterfall. How far from the river's bank you think i can dig?

Upstream,downstream, Dunno, go w/ your gut feeling, the quarts are a good sign. With all those big rocks along That creek looks like (at times) it has a heavy water flow.Any other creeks in that area to investigate ? I wouldn't venture too far off the creek bed,for now a few feet maybe.Are there other creeks that flow into that one ?

Take a bunch more pix. when you go

 

[Antmath]

There might be,i should definately look at where they meet if that one meets with another one. I will get back there to investigate and take some material too but this time i will classify it to almost sand because carrying rocks is an unecesairy load.

 

[RTR]

There might be,i should definately look at where they meet if that one meets with another one. I will get back there to investigate and take some material too but this time i will classify it to almost sand because carrying rocks is an unecesairy load.

Cool ,sounds like a plan...good luck

 

[arizau]

I do not see any areas with an abundance of river worn/rounded rocks in your pics. Those are indicators of old stream beds and have the potential of being placer deposits. Were I you I would seek out areas where there is a general accumulation of river worn rocks and sample there. Look for gulches or exposed hillside seams with larger rocks overlying progressively smaller rocks, gravel and sand laying on bed rock or clay.

Good luck.

 

[Antmath]

Hello there! Thanks for your advice. The river is active but it creates that impression because water flows for just a few months only. The bad thing is that the mountains doesn’t have snow on them the most of the times and if they do have it’s so little. Rainfalls are getting fewer and fewer every year so maybe I suppose in some cases it flows like a normal river but most of the times as a creek. I will visit the place again to explore even further and hopefully to find a better place. One more thing though,do I have any chances if I search where the river flows into the sea? You know, to pan the sand there. This river was never before prospected for gold so I believe that if there is gold there it should be deep into the beds of the river and underneath rocks etc. and maybe a great amount of it has gone lower after so many years and ended up to the sea. What you guys think about that? My second plan is to start from the end of the river, pan some sand first and slowly to start going upstream. Does it sounds like a good plan?

 

[Antmath]

Ok I found an old photo of that river but the place where it’s closed to sea and as I remember it’s way different. It’s banks are mainly small and big gravels,sand and bedrocks. So I am going to start from there first and slowly going upstream.

 

[Antmath]

Any advice for my last thoughts?

 

[RTR]

Any advice for my last thoughts?

Hit it all, until you find it, then concentrate you attention in that area.

 

[Antmath]

Hello there! I haven’t find the chance to go for prospecting yet but I hope on Tuesday. I will post some pics from the site though. The only place to pan there is in the sea so I believe it could not be a issue. Anyway, I was thinking the possibility of building a stream sluice box so it would be easier to classify the material. Do you have any advice about that? I don’t want to spend a lot of money on mats like miracle mat because its too expensive for my purpose. I have built a small sluice box and I have used only a piece from a welcome mat. I don’t know if that’s the appropriate way to do it though. In case that I won’t use a sluice box, do I have to classify the material? I was thinking classssifying it on the standard classifier and then the rest of it with a 1/4’ classifier so it would be easier to pan it. In any case I will start first panning the sand which is in the end f the river and then I will start to go upstream looking inside the benches,beds and bedrocks of the river. So which is the best way? A common classifier or a home made sluice box?

 

[RTR]

Some good info here http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/gold-prospecting/606732-setting-sluice-small-stream-leaving.html

 

[Antmath]

What about classifying the material to 1/4’? Should it be easier to pan it?

 

[RTR]

What about classifying the material to 1/4’? Should it be easier to pan it?

I'd do 1/4" or smaller.The key is having all the material the same size .

 

[Mine Shaft]

I do not see any areas with an abundance of river worn/rounded rocks in your pics. Those are indicators of old stream beds and have the potential of being placer deposits. Were I you I would seek out areas where there is a general accumulation of river worn rocks and sample there. Look for gulches or exposed hillside seams with larger rocks overlying progressively smaller rocks, gravel and sand laying on bed rock or clay.

Good luck.

Do you mean like this ? Also Antmath i am fairly new to prospecting but in this photo we only had to dig 6-8" deep on the side of the bank to find Gold. Good luck.