NC Prospecting Need help

[digger34]

I'm wondering if this small creek/bank could have gold, there's lots of Quartz and have found quite a bit of black send. Also how far down should I dig, I'm asking because I have dug Down 7 inches and have found maybe 1 spec of gold. By the way, the Rock is a huge piece of Quartz. Also is there a good educational video somewhere.

 

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[Duckwalk]

Whew, the blurryness makes it hard to tell anything honestly. But, gold is where ya find it. Look on the inside bends of the creek. or any place you see rocks and gravel gathering. Gold is heavy as hell and lazy, if it gets a chance to stop or fall out of the flow of water, it will! If you see several quartz side by side in the creek wall, that would be what we call a "vein" of quartz. Usually pretty good stuff there assuming its a gold bearing area. as far as depth is concerned, it depends on several things.

What type of gold is in your area, how deep to bedrock, is there clay, how dense is the material you are digging etc. Just experiment.

 

[digger34]

Ok thank you very much. I have dug down about 11 inches and I haven't hit bedrock yet, and I haven't hit clay except for the bank where I see some nice size Quartz rock. I tried to attach a video but it wouldn't let me.

 

[digger34]

It looks very similar to the post you had a while back with 3 creeks into one

 

[KevinInColorado]

Ok thank you very much. I have dug down about 11 inches and I haven't hit bedrock yet, and I haven't hit clay except for the bank where I see some nice size Quartz rock. I tried to attach a video but it wouldn't let me.

11 inches is nothing. Report back when you are down 3-4 feet...or hit clay/bedrock!

 

[enamel7]

I'm in NC. It would help to know what general location you're in.

 

[digger34]

I'm in NC. It would help to know what general location you're in.

I'm in Rutherford County, eastern NC

 

[digger34]

11 inches is nothing. Report back when you are down 3-4 feet...or hit clay/bedrock!

Ok I will thank you everyone for the info!!

 

[digger34]

I have dug down and now I am getting into this silver mud that's like clay except all gooey, hard to explain. I am about 2 feet down

 

[KevinInColorado]

I have dug down and now I am getting into this silver mud that's like clay except all gooey, hard to explain. I am about 2 feet down

Some spots where I dig are like that. I haven't found gold in the gooey clay/mud but just above that is great where I am.

 

[enamel7]

Rutherford county is actually western centalish, but there is gold there. 2nd broad river and I've found gold around Forest City.

 

[digger34]

Not sure why I said Eastern I'm in the foothills more western

 

[huntsman53]

11 inches is nothing. Report back when you are down 3-4 feet...or hit clay/bedrock!

LOL, I was going to say to report back when he is nearing China! As we all know, the deeper the hole, the more material you have processed and thus the possibility of getting more GOLD.


Frank

 

[huntsman53]

Some spots where I dig are like that. I haven't found gold in the gooey clay/mud but just above that is great where I am.

I have found fair amounts of small flake and powder Gold above and in the first few inches of clay as well as under the clay at the Vein Mountain LDMA Claim in Rutherford County. In fact, I dug through three clay layers there and still had not hit bedrock but believe I was getting close. I went with a friend that is a member but since he won't go back, I can't go back. Was hoping to dig down that deep again and then run a probe down to see if I can hit bedrock. It's hard to work in the creek there as the water is up most of the time, so if you can hit it during a drought, you have a better chance of being able to dig down to the bedrock without drowning.


Frank

 

[digger34]

Ok thank you all for the information

 

[joncutt87]

Good luck

 

[dtpost]

I have found gold in the Second Broad River before.

 

[Golden_Crab]

The gold in western NC foothills is hard to pin down because the area is INCREDIBLY faulted, folded, and undergone several metamorphic events so it occurs in canoe-like formations that poke in/out of other overlying formations and sediments. Luckily all ya need to know is google earth is your friend and you'll want to download the USGS .kml (google earth) file from the USGS site for NC then find the light blueish colored "band" of metamorphosed granite belt in your area, from there your gold should occur within fingerling quartz veins within said granite. Dont expect high grade deposits, but there is quite a bit of gold there!

To make things a bit easier... Route 64 follows along the backside of this belt all the way up to Morganton! If you note, this takes you along and past the historic placers near Lucky Strike, Thermal City, and LDMA Vein Mountain

 

[gabatsns]

Where to look when reading a stream or river.

Having done a fair bit of panning and dredging (2") in and around the Shelby area, the Broad river and even north of Rutherfordton, I can tell you that if you hit the silvery clay that unless you can find gravel again beneath it you can stop diggin. Here's the best advice I can offer on ANY creek or river. Look for what would be a sand bar but its made out or rocks. I don't care if its in the middle of the river or on a bank, whether its on the inside or outside of a turn ( usually the inside.) Look for these rocks as close to the surface as possible or even sticking out dry like a sand bar would. These large heavy rocks didn't get piled that high from deep down in the river bottom. They got placed there moving uphill at flood stage under lots of pressure from the water. I say uphill because my experience has shown that if the big rocks are sticking out of the water or visible and close to the surface, it is because they are sitting on something solid that is not that far down. THIS MEANS LESS OVERBURDEN AND EASIER ACCESS TO THE BEDROCK OR FALSE BEDROCK WHERE THERE MIGHT BE GOLD. Of course if the big rocks you can see ( fist size up to suitcase size are under a few inches or a few feet of water the situation is the same. You will not have to dig far to get to the bottom!!! Remember once you get to the bottom to try prying up and apart the bedrock as in NC and SC it is a ofter stuff that breaks up easily and will contain a lot of fat flakes of gold.
EXCEPTIONS ARE AT THE BOTTOM OF A WATERFALL WHERE BIG ROCKS WILL PILE UP DEEP BECAUSE IT IS THE LOWEST POINT AVAILABLE.
You may find a mass of gold at the bottom of a waterfall but you will work like hell to get to it.

 

[gabatsns]

NC gold grades

California gold is average 80 % pure

in contrast NC gold is historically around 22 carat or 95% pure.


Just saying.