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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[Assembler]

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?"

There is a difference using a detector to find a value target big enough to respond to with a metal detector compared to finding a spot target that can produce a lot of colors that a metal detector likely will not respond to. Both methods are ways to sample what is there.

There is also the possibility that more then one person is digging the pits to find some answers.

Others will be looking for values from different types of rocks.

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?

Likely looking for enough colors / values to decide if it is worth the time and effort to use other equipment / effort to give a reasonable return on time / money spent.

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.

First question that most have is it worth the time and effort to get a reasonable return on time spent. After all most can find some values but is it worth the time to proceed further?

Others may want answers to what is really there and what it takes / methods should be used.
Others may have other questions and want some answers.

 

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[N-Lionberger]

When I think of nugget country I do not think of North Carolina. Sampling is sampling you get a sample and run through your process. Before bench operators did drill tests on placers you had to physically dig a hole to bedrock to see if there is any color there. In a lot of areas you cannot get an accurate read from a drill due to large rocks. You have to dig test pits. Through previous experience or education you select locations and dig holes and and take samples and test those samples for their mineral content.

 

[Robot]

Hi IndianaHolmes
Let me welcome you to the "Show"!
Although I have the necessary equipment (Sluice, Shovel, Pan, Hammer, and best of all...Pickaxe) to Gold Prospect here in British Columbia's Gold Rush area...I too refer to the internet for advice.

"Gold in and around stream beds was soon exhausted, and hard-rock miners took over, using their pickaxes to dig shafts up to forty feet deep with horizontal tunnels radiating from these shafts in search of subterranean veins of gold-bearing quartz."

I always envision the Gold Miner breaking the rocks to look for the ore.

 

[Assembler]

Hi IndianaHolmes
Let me welcome you to the "Show"!
Although I have the necessary equipment (Sluice, Shovel, Pan, Hammer, and best of all...Pickaxe) to Gold Prospect here in British Columbia's Gold Rush area...I too refer to the internet for advice.

"Gold in and around stream beds was soon exhausted, and hard-rock miners took over, using their pickaxes to dig shafts up to forty feet deep with horizontal tunnels radiating from these shafts in search of subterranean veins of gold-bearing quartz."

I always envision the Gold Miner breaking the rocks to look for the ore.

Good point about breaking rocks to look for ore. If you can start to see the values in the rock then maybe some other methods can be used in that target rock or area to keep on the mineral you are looking for.

 

[IndianaHolmes]

When I think of nugget country I do not think of North Carolina. Sampling is sampling you get a sample and run through your process. Before bench operators did drill tests on placers you had to physically dig a hole to bedrock to see if there is any color there. In a lot of areas you cannot get an accurate read from a drill due to large rocks. You have to dig test pits. Through previous experience or education you select locations and dig holes and and take samples and test those samples for their mineral content.

I wouldn't have thought of NC either, but it's a huge gold state. It's where the gold rush started in fact (with the accidental discovery of a 17 pound nugget, no less.) Lots of placer mines here.

That said, I'm not sure if the areas I'm detecting are conducive to surface nuggets. The top layer is thick with leaves year round, follow by a couple inches of roots and loose soil, followed by dirt. I'm new to this, but it doesn't seem like the kind of layers that would trap heavies.

So from what you're saying it sounds like many of the large pits I see could just be test pits? And that it's not necessarily that the old timers "knew" to dig there, so much as they were digging somewhat at random to collect samples and hoping to find some nuggs?

 

[IndianaHolmes]

Hi IndianaHolmes
Let me welcome you to the "Show"!
Although I have the necessary equipment (Sluice, Shovel, Pan, Hammer, and best of all...Pickaxe) to Gold Prospect here in British Columbia's Gold Rush area...I too refer to the internet for advice.

"Gold in and around stream beds was soon exhausted, and hard-rock miners took over, using their pickaxes to dig shafts up to forty feet deep with horizontal tunnels radiating from these shafts in search of subterranean veins of gold-bearing quartz."

I always envision the Gold Miner breaking the rocks to look for the ore.

Yeah there can definitely be some "nuggets" of good advice on forums. But there's also plenty of nonsense to sift through. Still usually worth the effort.

Thanks for the excerpt.

 

[Reed Lukens]

Sounds like another bot...
Lot's of gold is found in pockets. You find a pocket in one small spot, dig a pit and recover it all. Then 20 feet away, you find another pocket and dig it all up and move on to the next. If you have looked at the bedrock in the area, you will see pockets in the bedrock and that is one of the places that gold will settle. But... you may have 10 pockets all around each other and depending on how high and fast the water current was, all of the gold only drops into one pocket somewhere in the middle of the rest, leaving the others empty... Then add a few feet of dirt on top of them and you need to get out your dowsing rods, metal detectors, drills, etc... then find your next gold deposit and recover the gold.

 

[N-Lionberger]

Placer mining yes it’s sort of a crap shoot. You look at the geography and from what you know from education or personal experience select locations to dig holes to bedrock to get an idea what is there. It’s prospecting. Prospecting involves digging lots of holes. Hard rock deposits are often found by following gold up a creek by a series of test holes until the gold stops then sampling in a grid up the hillside. Digging holes and sampling the dirt.

 

[IndianaHolmes]

Placer mining yes it’s sort of a crap shoot. You look at the geography and from what you know from education or personal experience select locations to dig holes to bedrock to get an idea what is there. It’s prospecting. Prospecting involves digging lots of holes. Hard rock deposits are often found by following gold up a creek by a series of test holes until the gold stops then sampling in a grid up the hillside. Digging holes and sampling the dirt.

Thanks for the insight.

Based on a couple answers it sounds like some of pits I'm seeing are test pits (as opposed to my initial assumption that miners only dug large pits in spots where they saw definitive signs of gold deposits.)

That also explains why the pits I see in any given area are all roughly the same depth (they're digging to bedrock, as opposed to just digging until the gold runs out.)

 

[IndianaHolmes]

Sounds like another bot...
Lot's of gold is found in pockets. You find a pocket in one small spot, dig a pit and recover it all. Then 20 feet away, you find another pocket and dig it all up and move on to the next. If you have looked at the bedrock in the area, you will see pockets in the bedrock and that is one of the places that gold will settle. But... you may have 10 pockets all around each other and depending on how high and fast the water current was, all of the gold only drops into one pocket somewhere in the middle of the rest, leaving the others empty... Then add a few feet of dirt on top of them and you need to get out your dowsing rods, metal detectors, drills, etc... then find your next gold deposit and recover the gold.

Bots post prospecting questions? Weird.

Thanks for the insight though.

 

[ihatethese]

Bots post prospecting questions? Weird.

Thanks for the insight though.

Bots, are anywhere on the internet money is to be made selling a product.
Forums make money through advertising and traffic. Bots, create fake conversation points, to drum up traffic. It's funny how you can have a post asking questions about expanded metal over minors moss and someone will ALWAYS jump in talking about gold hog or dream mat. As if either of those could ever be confused for one another. 😕
There is this nifty little thing called the search box, in the upper right hand corner of your screen. Hell, if you type your question into Google, more often than not you'll see one of hundreds of influences teaching prospecting knowledge on YouTube.
There are a lot of techniques the old times used that just arnt available to us anymore... Thanks feds.... ultimately the best, and most reliable tool for finding gold, is the goldpan. The old timers were on foot, and wagon. They checked every creek, every gully, every cave, every addit.... when they found what they were looking for they set up camp. Some areas you'll have to sample all the way to berock.... some areas only have gold on surface layers (floodgold) some is scattered through out the other layers. Based on the gravity of the host or surrounding rock, it could be anywhere.
If you have the ability (if it's legal) they make gas powered earth augers. (Legal in some places) might make a good test hole drill.

 

[sprailroad]

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.

Kind of sounds like everyone here on Treasure Net are strangers with nothing in common, whereas this is one part of research if you will, asking people who just might be in the know, on a site where we all share a common interest. There have been a number of times I have learned things and received information from a number of people on this site who are VERY knowledgeable on any number of things. IndianaHolmes, perhaps you should not bother asking anything here. You guys who ask "What is it?" Do your own research somewhere else I guess...just saying....

 

[Assembler]

Better to research elsewhere until this becomes a mining group again (it used to be). Right now the emphasis seems to be on more views/clicks rather than mining related discussion. There are other forums where the owners are actual miners and recognize this BS for what it is. Those forums ban this nonsense and are much more miner oriented. Look around - it's out there.

The word "Mine" is defined in two spots within "The State of Oregon" code.
Can you provide a link or better yet a definition of what a "Mining group" is?

With the silly input of bots and the anti mining posters hiding in plain sight there is no way for a newbie to pick the nuggets of wisdom out of the greasy burlap/trenching with a leaf blower SEPA crap. Newbies picking fights right out of the gate are only a symptom of the ongoing rot on this forum.

The Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) is a mechanism that facilitates the standardisation of electronic payments denominated in euro across Europe. Under SEPA, all bank accounts must be identified by an International Bank Account Number (IBAN) and a Bank Identifier Code (BIC).

A SEPA – or Single Euro Payments Area – bank transfer lets you send and receive cross-border payments in euros. It works the same way as a domestic bank transfer, so long as both countries are inside the eurozone.Sep 20, 2022

SEPA, which stands for Single Euro Payments Area, allows businesses and customers to make and receive cross-border euro payments. Since February 1, 2014, all countries in the European Economic Area (EEA) have also been members of the SEPA zone, standardizing payment transactions within Europe.Jul 10, 2023

It may be possible that the fact some will not follow the rules of this forum may be a leading factor of possible "On going rot on this forum".

 

[Assembler]

Better to research elsewhere until this becomes a mining group again (it used to be). Right now the emphasis seems to be on more views/clicks rather than mining related discussion. There are other forums where the owners are actual miners and recognize this BS for what it is. Those forums ban this nonsense and are much more miner oriented. Look around - it's out there.

Any good links for anyone interested in researching?
Thanks for the input.

 

[Assembler]

Kind of sounds like everyone here on Treasure Net are strangers with nothing in common, whereas this is one part of research if you will, asking people who just might be in the know, on a site where we all share a common interest. There have been a number of times I have learned things and received information from a number of people on this site who are VERY knowledgeable on any number of things. IndianaHolmes, perhaps you should not bother asking anything here. You guys who ask "What is it?" Do your own research somewhere else I guess...just saying....

Well at least most of the strangers have a interest in "Mining", "Mines", metal detectors in part or whole. If this makes a group of people willing to talk then the learning / researching begins or can be shared.

One should not feel afraid of asking a 'foolish question' as we have all been there. The conditions / methods in one area may not be the best for another area conditions so there is no real 'foolish questions' no matter what forum you are on.

As pointed out just reading and learning information / how to is grounds of the common interest of the people on the forum. Both members and non-members. No one knows all of the possible information on any given topic thread.

 

[ihatethese]

Any good links for anyone interested in researching?
Thanks for the input.

https://youtube.com/@ProspectorJess?si=KPUh2_P3sOzBWmcD

https://youtube.com/@ChrisRalph?si=qlc0HHCbqdh7h3nU

https://youtube.com/@VoGusProspecting?si=X-dPWvl65fSkxaSF

https://youtube.com/@Danhurd?si=-clMNJxLj7mUVhda

https://youtube.com/@Askjeffwilliams?si=1xaaFnS0d1l4eylc

These guys seem to know quite a bit, and luck would have it are in quite different areas.
I would check them out. the first two, have books available and websites to check out. Jeff Williams is extremely knowledgeable hard rock/drift mining. There are others of course, but a good place to start is youtube academia. Go to a local library and find old, out of print books on gold mining/prospecting in your area. Search old newspaper articles.

 

[Assembler]

https://youtube.com/@ProspectorJess?si=KPUh2_P3sOzBWmcD

https://youtube.com/@ChrisRalph?si=qlc0HHCbqdh7h3nU

https://youtube.com/@VoGusProspecting?si=X-dPWvl65fSkxaSF

https://youtube.com/@Danhurd?si=-clMNJxLj7mUVhda

https://youtube.com/@Askjeffwilliams?si=1xaaFnS0d1l4eylc

These guys seem to know quite a bit, and luck would have it are in quite different areas.
I would check them out. the first two, have books available and websites to check out. Jeff Williams is extremely knowledgeable hard rock/drift mining. There are others of course, but a good place to start is youtube academia. Go to a local library and find old, out of print books on gold mining/prospecting in your area. Search old newspaper articles.

Thanks.
Will check out the ones I have not looked at before.

 

[IndianaHolmes]

Thanks.
Will check out the ones I have not looked at before.

Definitely recommend Chris Ralph

 

[Assembler]

Definitely recommend Chris Ralph

I have watch a few before. Always useful. Thanks.

 

[russau]

Chris Ralph has a EXCELENT book out called, Fists Full of Gold $29.95 and it's got the answer's people need to read about if they don't know where to dig while they are out prospecting! Get yours's autographed while your at it ! I did !