Morning walk with Pville

[Goldwasher]

Went down to my neighborhood creek where i have been working I decided to bring a camera. I will break this up into a few sections to go with the pictures. This area is a seasonal creek at about 1700 feet no Tertiary influence. The gold I am getting is mostly fine and rough when bigger. the rounded flakes are coming from the deeper cracks and I believed were deposited eons ago. the fine stuff and rough stuff is in the over burden and more recently filled traps. the creek follows the drection of The motherlode and then turns and crosses it as it crosses it it is enriched by stringer veins. there was signifigant work done 1/8 mile upstream however I find more gold at this spot vs. at the actual Digs wich is not always the case. after the creek turns its flow is such that the Bedrock wich is mostly Black Slate is perpindicular to the flow wich is awesome. it is brocken and flaking apart definate crowbar country. there are numerous epithermal deposits in the area and pocket mines dot the hillides and I have found a few deeper portals. In the pictures you'll see the gold bearing material red with iron and stuck right on the bedrock. right now I am digging cracks when there is enough water to sluice I will start clearing off more bedrock. The material is mainly 1 to 2 feet thick there is gold in it from the grass to the bedrock so i like to run it all. If you look in the pics you can see how much Quartz there is. as the Gold bearing Quarts moves downstream it breaks down and that is where the fine gold is coming from.I came home with like 10lbs of cons I dug from a spot where some bedrock is jutting up into the creek I'll show my take when i finish my clean up.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

DR.ÖTEK Metal Detector, Waterproof Gold Detector, Pinpoint & Terrain Modes, Professional Metal Detector - Grab it through Amazon!

[Goldwasher]

More cracks and bedrock.Dark slate with OverBurden on top. And Decomposing bedrock the flow is perpendicular to the cracks. So many drool worthy traps.

 

[Goldwasher]

Everything upstream comes through a choke point that isn't too narrow, and the bedrock is awesomely shallow and rough so very nice material is catching in this spot. and as you can see it has been here long enought to grow grass wildfowers an poison oak.The ceek is seasonal and shallow and in a rugged fairly cut off canyon so I am hoping fairly undredged in moderntimes, i have found very little modern trash and lots of square nails and older relics. I do know of several gram plus nuggets detected here and 28 gram lunker that i have held myself. here is Me and the terrain of the spot in general.

 

[Goldwasher]

heres where the creek crosses a vein system. On one side are several old shafts with surface digging all the way up the hillside and on top of the ridge following the strike of the vein. You can see the stingers in the creek and there is an adit on the otherside of the creek following the drop of the vein. So in the pic where you see the bucket by the creek I am uphill looking down the direction of the strike and dip the willow is growing out of a shaft thats the one with the wood in it. The dark spot in the trees is the adit 180 degree view from the stacked rock and other prospects. its neat to see how they followed it. And encouraging to know they were finding what they were looking for. there is also a pic of the waste rock in the area. And the contacts between the quartz and country rock.

 

[Jason in Enid]

Very nice looking spot!

 

[Astrobouncer]

That looks like a fun area to spend some time in! Thanks for showing us. I would be toting home some of that rock and busting it open too, especially the red quartz.

 

[63bkpkr]

PvilleHunter,
Good to hear from you again! Looks like quite an adventure you've found for yourself. Has metal detecting been of any help on the site? May all your efforts and work pay off for you or at least enough to pay off the house........63bkpkr

 

[Goldwasher]

I have detected down there and it is so mineralized. I have a Goldmaster 4 and with no auto ground balance and the prescence of a lot of fine detectable gold it gets pretty hard to keep my sanity. Gravelwasher went down with me once he has a GP3000 and he found a few non ferrous targets in the gut of the stream. the hillsides are much easier for my goldmaster But, i am thiking it is about time to go pulse induction cause my goldmaster is so sensitive to mineralization and small gold that it is just a chatterbox. Astobouncer there is soooooooooooooo much quartz I would need a truck and a 20 stamp mill to keep up. There are so many traps in this creek that i will have a lifetime of sniping and sluicing. I'm glad you guys like the pics i just wanted to share one of my spots.

 

[NeoTokyo]

That looks wonderful, I would be sniping that during higher water.

 

[Goldwasher]

I prefer to underwater snipe at the river. the deepest this spot gets is during floods. and most of the material that is real good is above water or very shallow and hard to snipe underwater cause its shallow.

 

[Fullpan]

I'm amazed that the bedrock "leaves" (bookends) don't show more sign of digging - that is - chunks torn out. Its almost like virgin ground which can't be
true, considering all the digging evidence on nearby hillsides.

 

[trinityau]

Hello Pvillehunter, Your area is very similar to much of what I detect up here in Redding. I think you would be better off getting a newer VLF to detect that creekbed with. You will find that a PI may work on some areas but when you get into trash you are done. You need a unit that has a very good discrimination. I have used all the goldmaster's and many of the other VLF's that have come and gone and none of them have a discrimination that stands up to the GB Pro. In the situation you have I would really give one a swing. If I was closer I would do a day trip and show you how well the GB Pro performs in a creekbed. The blacksand ID I think is far better than anything the other VLF's have or had. The money you are going to lay out for a PI vs a GB Pro is going to be big. I use my Pro in the water all the time and then go back and dry pan or snipe. Just my opinions, TRINITYAU/RAYMILLS

 

[Goldwasher]

Ray....I was waiting on....expecting and predicting your opinion......the day gravelwasher and i went out I had him check a subtle signal i was getting and his Minelab wasn't picking it up...he is new to the machine and didnt change settings but, he moved on and i dug a .22 round, so i have been pre-considering your advice....as far as virgin ground goes as far as i am concerned it is pretty close considering current echnology and methods. this area hasn't been gone over as well as it needs to be.....and just my luck it is a left turn out of my driveway and a 5 minute drive....10 minute walk from my car.

 

[Oakview2]

I would have a hard time staying home if I had a great piece of creek like that to work.. Good health and good hunting

 

[freddy williams]

NICE spot you have there, I'd be pressed to go home also I would probably end up staying longer than I should. HH hope you find the gold my friend...

 

[Goldwasher]

Its hard to go anywhere else it is only ten minutes from my house.

 

[caprock]

Excellent photos and descriptions, Pville
That's some nice looking ground. Only one comment, there are no "epithermal deposits" in the foothills of the Sierra, The Mother Lode is classified as mesothermal. Epithermal deposits are common in Nevada like Virginia City, Tonopah, Goldfield etc. They formed in shallow volcanic environments, some even in hot springs near surface. Mother Lode deposits formed at much greater depths and higher temps and presures. Considering how much rock has been eroded from the Sierra, and the great depths currently exposed, the ML deposits formed much to deep to be considered epithermal. Bodie is another good example of a epithermal deposit. Quartz textures and alteration mineralogy is also quite different in epithermal deposits. Keep up the good prospecting, your on the right track

 

[NeoTokyo]

Good info.

 

[Goldwasher]

You are correct confusing my Greek.

 

[TAKODA]

RICH BY GOD !! Pville's gona be freak'n rich !! .................................................. ...
at least maybe anyhow . Even well to do ain't bad .

Have at it and good luck man .