Help with Sluice box

[Sackett]

I have an Angus MacKirk, about 3 foot sluice, I am prospecting in South Carolina, near the Abbeville, McCormick, Greenwood, Edgefield Counties. It is fairly flat country, but I can get my sluice box set up to run, sometimes I have to build a dam, but I can get to run correctly. My problem that I'm having is this; I find good gold one day, by "good" I mean pickers, that can picked up with fingers and twisters. But, and this makes no sense to me, the closer that I get to bedrock, the less gold I get I built a hand dredge, thinking that the gold was washing off my shovel, when I got down to bedrock, from the lack of other material. ie..sand But even with my hand dredge I'm not getting the pickers, just small flakes Why would the gold be in the sands half way down to bedrock and not at the bedrock I'm working where it is only a foot or two of sand, then bedrock. I'm not totally new to prospecting, I've been doing for a little over a year on and off, but by the same token I'm NOT an expert by any means!!! I can use all the help that anyone would be willing to offer! thanks,

 

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[tntrker]

Hey Sackett, I'm newer at this than you in the Seneca Area. I would have to guess maybe a good downpour at one time brought in some "new' gold that hasn't made it to the bedrock yet. You maybe close to the "vein"... just guessing.

 

[jog]

Next time your there try to determine where the gold is concentrated and just dig everything at that level. May be a pay streak sitting on a layer of hard pack other than bed rock. I came across this at a spot I dredged last year. Also try and look for different colors in the in the sediment that may give a clew as to where the gold is sitting.

 

[Astrobouncer]

Those are both good points, another thing to consider is some form of man made erosion upstream that could have eroded the gold fairly recently. It takes time for gold to work its way to bedrock. Also, its possible the bedrock was already worked clean in earlier times and they already got the good stuff, and the stuff you are finding is just whats been redeposited since then.