How Did Miners Know Where to Dig?

[IndianaHolmes]

Been doing some detecting around old placer mines lately. Wondering why/how miners chose to dig pits in some spots and not others. Sometimes a placer mine will only have 3-5 pits. Other times there are 20 or 30 scattered around. What signs did they look for that said "dig here?"

Obviously some pits and trenches are dug at the site of a gold bearing outcropping. But what about the pits scattered around the banks of a creek (for instance?) Did they just dig pits at random? Did they only dig where they happened to stumble across big ol nuggets on the surface? Did they do endless soil sampling/panning and dig wherever they found specks?

Just to clarify, I'm not asking about what would bring miners to a particular region (ie: geology, faults, panning samples, etc...) I'm asking what would cause them to dig any particular pit within the area of interest.

Cheers

 

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[jose159]

I was a coal miner back in the late 70s and I do know that they used bore hole samples to determine where the coal was and how deep the seam was and quality of the coal. I'm really not exactly sure if they did it that way in the early 1900s but I am guessing they did.

 

[xracer550]

It's called Prospecting you have to sample , sample , sample & then you Mine .

 

[xr7ator]

You ARE on the internet. Why bother getting some strangers opinion and not do the research to find out the answers yourself. They are out there and just waiting for you to read.
A prospector might do all that you mentioned and more and maybe less based on the type of ore they are looking for, etc.
Xracer550's reply is correct. Don't shoot the messenger.

 

[Buckshotnc]

Here on my property Treasure Valley around and near the old Lookadoo Gold Mine in Western North Carolina where they mined at the end of 1800's to early 1900's there are holes about 5"-6" in diameter and today they are still about 3'-4' deep. Some are located around pits where they mined and others are in the woods where they didn't mine which leads me to believe that if they drilled and got good results that is where they dug the pits and mined and the ones in the woods where they didn't get good results they didn't dig.

 

[jose159]

I misunderstood the original question and for some reason thought it was about coal mines..sorry about that

 

[IndianaHolmes]

I misunderstood the original question and for some reason thought it was about coal mines..sorry about that

No worries! I appreciate you taking as stab at it anyway. Cheers.

 

[IndianaHolmes]

Here on my property Treasure Valley around and near the old Lookadoo Gold Mine in Western North Carolina where they mined at the end of 1800's to early 1900's there are holes about 5"-6" in diameter and today they are still about 3'-4' deep. Some are located around pits where they mined and others are in the woods where they didn't mine which leads me to believe that if they drilled and got good results that is where they dug the pits and mined and the ones in the woods where they didn't get good results they didn't dig.

Yeah that'd make sense. I didn't know they drilled for samples when it comes to placer mining.

 

[cyzak]

Hello IndianaHolmes I have been a miner for long time load and placer. There is a few folks on here that will have decent info for you. So normally they looked for and old drainage from eons ago usually in the bend that's were the layers of sediment the gold got dropped out. Normally they would do a surface dig a foot or so down if small flakes were found down they would continue down. The locations I have been on I have seen the dig 60 foot from the drainage and 60 foot high up were ever they can find the high bench placer gravel they would dig down. I call them coyote holes I came across a fellow one time who had dug down to 20 feet into a gravel bench. He had a little trail for his wheel barrow along the edge to remove the gravel sometimes it like digging in concrete and some times it easy. I consider this practice highly dangerous and he was out there by himself. Be careful exploring these holes in the ground and be safe gold makes people do stupid things. Have fun out there and be safe.

 

[IndianaHolmes]

Hello IndianaHolmes I have been a miner for long time load and placer. There is a few folks on here that will have decent info for you. So normally they looked for and old drainage from eons ago usually in the bend that's were the layers of sediment the gold got dropped out. Normally they would do a surface dig a foot or so down if small flakes were found down they would continue down. The locations I have been on I have seen the dig 60 foot from the drainage and 60 foot high up were ever they can find the high bench placer gravel they would dig down. I call them coyote holes I came across a fellow one time who had dug down to 20 feet into a gravel bench. He had a little trail for his wheel barrow along the edge to remove the gravel sometimes it like digging in concrete and some times it easy. I consider this practice highly dangerous and he was out there by himself. Be careful exploring these holes in the ground and be safe gold makes people do stupid things. Have fun out there and be safe.

Much appreciated!

And yeah digging or exploring pits and holes is pretty dicey. Some things that are relatively safe in groups become life threatening solo. Even just being alone in the wilderness is risky enough. One slip on a slick rock can be the end. Definitely best to play it safe.

Cheers

 

[leadnugget]

(What signs did they look for that said "dig here?)


they would be able to read the river/creek.
know how something very heavy like gold moves down stream
and where it settle out.

bigger rocks/boulders piling up and also the color of the rocks,
darker heavier vs lite and light.


also what does the black sand look like,
fine grains small gold.
coarse grain bigger gold, not always but most of the time.


there are other thing to look for dependent on if you are say in northern California
vs the desert.

 

[southfork]

Yeah that'd make sense. I didn't know they drilled for samples when it comes to placer mining.

Prospecting is the answer if that upsets you ask a specific question.

 

[IndianaHolmes]

(What signs did they look for that said "dig here?)


they would be able to read the river/creek.
know how something very heavy like gold moves down stream
and where it settle out.

bigger rocks/boulders piling up and also the color of the rocks,
darker heavier vs lite and light.


also what does the black sand look like,
fine grains small gold.
coarse grain bigger gold, not always but most of the time.


there are other thing to look for dependent on if you are say in northern California
vs the desert.

Yes, but these are more about finding gold in the river. I'm more wondering what the signs are for where to dig on land.

 

[ARC]

Test pan after test pan after test pan.

 

[IndianaHolmes]

Test pan after test pan after test pan.

As in test panning the surface soil? So in areas without water, would they basically shuttle soil down to the nearest creek and pan it?

 

[leadnugget]

(what the signs are for where to dig on land)
then you would be looking for rusty vuggy quartz
and shallow bedrock or other hard bedding like mudstone.
google (gold pocket hunting)

that's what works in my area.
your conditions could be very different.
what state are you hunting?
what detector are you using?

 

[IndianaHolmes]

(what the signs are for where to dig on land)
then you would be looking for rusty vuggy quartz
and shallow bedrock or other hard bedding like mudstone.
google (gold pocket hunting)

Thanks!

 

[IndianaHolmes]

what state are you hunting?
what detector are you using?

I'm in NC, using a Gold Monster 1,000.

 

[leadnugget]

i don't know much about north Carolina gold, other than there has been some good strikes.
the good news is you have a very good detector for shallow bedrock.
if its not shallow,
dig it down to about an an inch to bedrock.

also i doubt there are very many
nugget hunters there and that's a plus.
stick to shallow bedrock. if you can find bird shot you are on the right track.
post some gold when you get some.

 

[IndianaHolmes]

i don't know much about north Carolina gold, other than there has been some good strikes.
the good news is you have a very good detector for shallow bedrock.
if its not shallow,
dig it down to about an an inch to bedrock.

also i doubt there are very many
nugget hunters there and that's a plus.
stick to shallow bedrock. if you can find bird shot you are on the right track.
post some gold when you get some.

Thanks! I suppose now the trick is to learn how to locate shallow bedrock.