Hunt4gold - First prospecting adventures and beyond

I've attacked cracks and crevices only a hand full of times...solo and with buddies. Still learning and so far a two in 10 good payoff. (NO, no nuggets, just more flakes than expected.) So, I've been looking to improving my game for 2017 by learning what I can about C&C and lets face it...I like sitting on my butt while working AND selecting the best of the best spots...that I can safely reach and open. The dredge free zone here locally (of not less than 7 years) is worth going in the water after. I mean, I'm there in the heat of summer anyway...why not play? In the ways I have planned, using the tools I have, I'm looking forward to snorkeling and sniping in 2017 as well as the CrackNCrevice angle on higher banks for this time of year. Should keep me plenty busy next year and good luck to your future golden days. Which looks bright by the way. Start looking for a claim man. You're ready! 8-) I wish I had the option. :icon_thumright:
 

Here's the gold recovered from the small 10" long, 7" wide bed rock pocket I talked about a few days ago. Thought it was pretty good gold for such a small hole - about 56" of material dug out of it.

pocket-10_Au.webp

Pocket in bedrock: 10" long, 7" wide
pocket-10_inches.webp
 

Is that north Denver clear Creek? If so I can put you on some good stuff near Broadway with the low water. Pm me if you are stomping up there.
 

Is that north Denver clear Creek? If so I can put you on some good stuff near Broadway with the low water. Pm me if you are stomping up there.

Treasure net is such a awesome community! So many people willing to help out other members. Either with good sound advice or good locations to mine. Thanks to everyone for making this such a great site!
 

Grizzly,

This spot was a small gulch in south Denver. Am always interested in meeting locals for a little gold finding! Will drop you a PM...
 

Processed the cons from the large pocket I worked previous weekend. There was a lot of really small gold (50 mesh) and a few that were around 20 mesh size. So I'm still on my quest for my first picker size gold!

Gold from 2.5' x 2' pocket.
large_pocket_Au.webp

Pocket gold came out of:
hand-dredge-hole.webp

Looking back I believe that I can improve on clean out of these types of pockets. Will likely go back with an underwater viewer to get I better idea of what I missed. Really hard to tell how many small crevices I missed at the bottom of the pocket that may contain more gold. The learning continues... as well as the enjoyment of discovery.
 

Good plan! Do it quick...before the next melt off raises the creek and fills in your hole with flow sand.
 

Started exploring another creek in south Denver - walked about a 1/3 mile. Started off with almost no gravel beds and then found section with bedrock exposed. Downstream of this started seeing some cobbles. Found a spot with 2' pocket downstream of large rock sitting on bedrock. Took two sample pans, but the flow in this spot was washing sands into my sample hole - tough sampling down to bedrock.

Did get some color though, so adds another mark on the map to revisit.
Sample_Au_12-14-16.webp
 

You're gonna get a LOT of spots at this rate! [emoji106][emoji322]
 

Sunday was out at yet another creek in a section where I thought bedrock would be present. After a few minutes walking the creek I did find solid rock in stream bed. Followed the bedrock for about 30 yards and came upon what appeared to be a large depression in the stream bed. turned out to be a good size pocket in the bedrock, so I got out my sampling shovel and filled up my pan with material. Ran 3 panfuls of gravels and each pan held similar results.
Was amazed at what I found...

Panful of black sands, 22 cal. bullets, and a bunch of bird shot --- and gold!
panfull_lead.webp

Had nice colors showing amongst BBs and bullets.
bullets_and_Au.webp

Some of the flakes were as wide as the BBs - exciting...
Flake_sizes.webp

Will definitely be back out to work this spot if the weather holds!
More photos to come after I work this spot...
 

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Wow! Nice job!

Keep that lead out of the environment!
 

Ok Tnet, I processed the cons from the depression in bedrock where I was finding all the 22 cal. bullets and lead shot in my samples. The depression ended up being a good size pocket in the bedrock - about 2 1/2 feet wide and a couple feet long, also about 1 foot depth of gravel and sands, then a few inches of clay, and bottoming out in bedrock again.
Pocket_1-Au_found.webp

Not sure if this rates 'honey hole' status, but it is my best-to-date gold recovery from a single spot and my first pickers.
Initial gold from about 2.5 hours working spot.
Au_Lg_pocket-1.webp

Cold day for Bazooka and me. Notice ice on rocks and shore.
Pocket_1-Au_bazooka.webp

This is the lead I pulled out of the hole, along with a couple of pennies.
lead_pocket.webp
 

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Wow impressive haul for hand tools and 2-3 hours
 

Very nice H4G, you might consider your finds as 'cold cash'! Thank you for posting as for some of us, me included, this will be as close as we get to seeing gold in a pan for awhile. Merry Christmas & Happy New Year.................63bkpkr
 

That definitely counts as a honey hole! Congratulations and well done! I really like those big pieces by the way bet that was a thrill to see in the pan.
 

Thanks all - seeing flakes in the pan that size was pretty cool. Now that I found gold larger than #8 mesh, I guess I shoot for a piece bigger than 1/4" mesh! That may take a while unless I go out of Colorado...
 

Nice work H4G you have definately hit a honey hole ..would love to get a result like that .. all the best for the silly season .

Sent from my GT-I9305 using Tapatalk
 

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