Need advise on strange gold occurance at my favorite spot.

[mrlindeman]

So I have been doin well panning at a local spot. The thing is I could do alot better running my sluice, only prob is.... Im only finding gold in pockets under old dead plant life and some bedrock cracks. This place has been picked clean by others so I am having to sniff the gold out hardcore. Its working but its hard to gather enough material to sluice. I am addicted to straying from my plan. Instead of test panning and finding the spot to clean the bedrock and classify, then sluice after gathering; I wind up panning every pan down to see the gold lol. I work hard not smart so thats my first thing I have to kick. I have tried digging the sand bar down to bedrock but ran into cobbles that are severly wedged. I cant shovel them things. Should i get a prybar and keep goin down? I am averaging ten to 40 colors per pan from only half cup of material at times from the bedrock. I know that once i can clear the overburden I will hit good amounts though. Gold in this area is great for panning but i want to save my back next time. I think the bedrock is about two maybe three feet down. The cobbles under the overburden sand are wedged in a way that tells me they have been there a long time. I have found a little flour gold testing as I dug to those cobbles. But heck, when i tried moving them away to get deeper I realized Im gonna need a bigger boat..I mean shovel, or pry bar. Any input guys?? Thanks ahaid of time. Pics comin real soon..

 

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[B H Prospector]

Sounds like you have a good spot. Real good color for the amount of material. Don't waste time panning until you are done running all the material you can get. Once you get all of the places cleaned up you have been working then concentrate on that cobble. Kinda like one bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. You know you have gold where you have been working and you think the bedrock is only a couple of feet below. Work what you know first then the possible. Mining requires great effort 99.9 percent of the time so use what ever it takes to get through the cobble.

Good Luck!

BH Prospector

 

[KevinInColorado]

YES get that prybar! The harder the digging the better the gold is what I say...hope you find it true in your case, I bet you do.

 

[mrlindeman]

That is just what i needed to hear B H & Kevin. I was considering the same thing. I think i will pretty much sluice every bit of dirt from the area I have been getting gold until it is bare. Then for fun try working on getting through that cobble gold safe lol. Im sure eventually I will succeed. I will report my findings and results in this thread as I go for sure. In order to save space i made an album with some pictures in my profile. Check them out if ya like. Thanks again!!

 

[mxer47]

It is amazing how well of a job the river does in packing that stuff together and digging a hole isn't as easy as it sounds. I will normally dig 4 5 gallon buckets of 1/8 classified at a time (there isn't any gold close to that size where i am at) then sluice, clean out and do it again just to give my back some rest. If you have water in your hole wash off the cobbles there if not have a bucket to wash them. I also per-classify to 1/2 in the hole. It just seems easer for me.

 

[Fullpan]

MrL - after looking at your picture album, I'm at a loss. What I really want to say is, go join the folks downstream at the swimming hole ! That bedrock is
really unusual looking in my experience - looks like sandstone, or solidified volcanic mud flow? I don't know your age, but at my age, and condition, I'd just keep putzing around that bedrock, digging the thousands of cracks, and potholes, rather than breaking my back trying to break up the cemented cobbles. Unless I really needed the money, I'd make time to join the people for a swim (in summer!) everyday. Not much help, am I?, - sorry lol.

 

[russau]

MrL ALL gold is a welcome stranger! sounds like your doing ok! BHP and Kevin gave you some good advice!

 

[mcordell]

Get in there and get to the bottom! No excuses!I'm almost there at this hole. Then I get into the small cracks.

 

[Jeff95531]

I'd recommend a pick and a hand suction dredge. Those items are "not allowed" in my area but my experience this year has led me to believe those tools are the ONLY way I'll ever get to bedrock and deep cracks here. You're on a great spot, keep working it and show us how good it really is!

 

[mrlindeman]

Its rainin and extremely windy today. The area is alot of exposed bedrock and the sandbar/cobble bar is in a bowl shape section of the bedrock from what I can tell. My guess tells me there is a high concentration down there and it should only be a couple feet deep. I have been working the decaying bedrock as well. It producess well but is alot of tedious work. I cant wait to pry some cobbles and see what is at the bottom. That thing may have never been disturbed as far as I know. I am going to take pictures of the spoit and put them in the album. Updates coming soon.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Mrlindeman, please post your pics in this thread if you can. I can't get to albums from my tablet and in stream makes for more interesting reading for all of us :-)

 

[mrlindeman]

Here is a picture of the spot to dig. It seems to be surrounded by bedrock and filled with cobble and wash sands


Here is the other side of the tree. It is the same way here. Good gold has been found in the cracks in all of this bedrock low and high water.


Here is some of the gold found so far. This is an average hand panning only for about 5-6 hours work playin around bedrock.

 

[Sample Pan Dan]

Don't overlook all that miss either! Peel some if a rock and break it all apart in your pan. That's how my buddy samples concentrations on creeks in Ga.

 

[KevinInColorado]

And by miss he means moss of course ;-)

Ps nice looking gold!

 

[Sample Pan Dan]

And by miss he means moss of course ;-) Ps nice looking gold!

Thanks Kevin, I never noticed my typo..

 

[mrlindeman]

I had not considered harvesting the moss lol. Its right in the hot spot too ... I better start peelin away and see what i get. I dont want to destry the moss, is it possible to relocate it? I know it seems silly but i figured better not to kill it if not needed. I figured just take it off, rinse and give a scrub in a bucket and lay it down somewhere for the river to redistribute.

 

[jojo21]

Don't overlook all that miss either! Peel some if a rock and break it all apart in your pan. That's how my buddy samples concentrations on creeks in Ga.

When I seen your comment about gold in moss I had to look this up. I would have never thought to look under them for gold. Learn something new everyday.

 

[mrlindeman]

The best pickers I have found on this river have been in the cracks under small weds growing on shale and shist bedrock.

 

[jojo21]

I had not considered harvesting the moss lol. Its right in the hot spot too ... I better start peelin away and see what i get. I dont want to destry the moss, is it possible to relocate it? I know it seems silly but i figured better not to kill it if not needed. I figured just take it off, rinse and give a scrub in a bucket and lay it down somewhere for the river to redistribute.

Mrlinder, from what I have read if you do it during the fall after a nice rain it is possible to transplant it, or you can pt both moss buttermilk or yogurt in a blender then paint the rock with it and since the river is fairly moist year round it will grow back. I found this on a website.

 

[mrlindeman]

Sweet that sounds pretty good.