Hello fom State College, PA

[matt_72]

Hello,

I'm not new to detecting, but for the most part I am new to prospecting. So I have a question for the more seasoned veteran prospectors.

I live in Central Pennsylvania, so we don't exactly have streams shining with gold. That being said, we do have quite a few streams that will offer up their gold if you're willing to work for it. While I was in Erie County last week, I went to Crooked Creek and dug up about 50 pounds worth of concentrate, a good portion of it was clay. I went to a spot in the creek where a slightly rapid stretch spills into a nice little pocket of slack water. It was at this place that I started digging. After moving the larger rocks that were laying where I wanted to dig, I dug down about 12" down before I was forced to I quit. I started panning the concentrate almost immediately when I got home. So far, I've gone through about 20 lbs of the concentrate. I'm finding plenty of black sand, but not even the slightest hint of gold. I know that the likelihood of me finding gold on my first time in this creek slim to none, but I know that gold has been found in this stretch of water. I just need to find it.

Today, I went to a creek close to Howard, PA, and started prospecting. Like the situation in Crooked Creek, I found a place that had shallow and quick-moving water that fed into a slack water. I dug down into the bed about 12". I panned out about 6 panfuls of concentrate, but I saw nothing. Not much black sand to speak of either. Nor was there any clay now that I think about it. Just a lot of large stones, pebbles, and smaller crushed up shale about the size of a Rice Krispy. So, here is my question.

Do I have to dredge further down toward bedrock before I find anything, or do I just need to be patient and sample more locations in the streams?

 

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[et1955]

Something else you may want to consider mining and that is the banks, the places I mine successfully are from 30ft. to 200ft. above the river. Also consider the effects of floods on where you are mining, all floods are different, one may deposit gold while another may strip the gold away. That has happened recently on one of the rivers I mine, 2 years ago gold all over, now nothing, I could be rich if I could figure where it all went. I have been mining this river since 1996 after the big flood, gold every where except believe it or not, no gold in the gravel bars, all gold was found up high. Just a little something to think about when you are in the field. Good Luck

 

[matt_72]

Something else you may want to consider mining and that is the banks, the places I mine successfully are from 30ft. to 200ft. above the river. Also consider the effects of floods on where you are mining, all floods are different, one may deposit gold while another may strip the gold away. That has happened recently on one of the rivers I mine, 2 years ago gold all over, now nothing, I could be rich if I could figure where it all went. I have been mining this river since 1996 after the big flood, gold every where except believe it or not, no gold in the gravel bars, all gold was found up high. Just a little something to think about when you are in the field. Good LuckView attachment 1475330

Interesting. I noticed that when I was climbing out of the creek last night there was a bunch of driftwood that had collected at the stump of a tree about 6 or 7 feet above the waterline. How many ounces do you think you pulled out of the river you mine?

 

[delnorter]

Matt, maybe try up stream in the riffle area. You might put on a snorkel and get down in the water to remove a some larger rocks and swish the sand and gravel away with the current. Move around the width of the stream. Have a weighted snuffer bottle and a screw driver to pry rocks and cracks. Cover some stream-bed looking for bed rock cracks to open. If there's gold you should be able to find traces of it and the best way get it.

Mike

 

[et1955]

I sure would check out the roots of that stump and have you checked the moss if there is any, great way to see if there is gold in the creek. I have found many ounces but the most important one was the first, it took a few years to fill that little bottle but all that I learned in that time made me a better miner and thus those bottles got easier to fill.

 

[N-Lionberger]

I almost took a job in State College.

 

[Patrick37]

I visited a river near Howard, PA, and while thinking I get hnd assignment help now. As the location at Crooked Creek, I was looking for a place with shallow water and a quick-drying up into lazy water. I dug a hole in the bottom of the bed at about 12. Ti. a very large stone, pebbles, and a small shale almost the size of Rice Krispy So, here is my question.

Good Information