Newbie question on finding nuggets in creeks and rivers

[firebird]

I was finally able to save up enough money to buy a Fisher Gold Bug 2 to prospect in Mariposa county where I've already had some success finding 6 grams of gold flakes after several months of very painful digging and hand panning. I already know there's gold here but from what I've experienced so far the gold along the creeks here occurs only in paystreaks of flakes, no nuggets.

Now that I have a metal detector, do I just try to find nuggets with it in the same areas where I've been finding the flakes as well? Or are they likely to be found in the beds of the streams themselves which are currently full of water but should dry up completely by the end of summer?

 

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[Lanny in AB]

I was finally able to save up enough money to buy a Fisher Gold Bug 2 to prospect in Mariposa county where I've already had some success finding 6 grams of gold flakes after several months of very painful digging and hand panning. I already know there's gold here but from what I've experienced so far the gold along the creeks here occurs only in paystreaks of flakes, no nuggets.

Now that I have a metal detector, do I just try to find nuggets with it in the same areas where I've been finding the flakes as well? Or are they likely to be found in the beds of the streams themselves which are currently full of water but should dry up completely by the end of summer?

Have a read through this excellent thread: http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/t...-lost-treasures-mariposa-ca-photos-added.html

You may pick up a few tips and some motivating ideas.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[bug]

Scan over cracks in the bedrock. Those are the easiest spots to check with a detector. The harder and more silicified bedrock is great as the miners had a hard time breaking into it and the cracks can be treasure traps. Make sure to have a good chisel and screwdriver. If bedrock is deep, go look for another creek. There's thousands of gulches and creeks in the motherlode and not all are detector friendly, or even have nugget gold. Just keep exploring till you get on a good nuggety one.
This time of year you can hunt the higher drier benches of creeks and smaller dry gulches and ground sluiced areas. As water levels drop in the summer, hit the creek guts themselves. Some guys hate detecting in water, but it can also be a lot of fun. Its basically sniping, but you are being clued in by you detector on which cracks or holes to clean out.

 

[firebird]

Have a read through this excellent thread: http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/t...-lost-treasures-mariposa-ca-photos-added.html
Lanny

Thanks, already read through it, that's how I was able to find some good areas to find flakes. But unfortunately the best areas are already claimed by someone else which makes it harder, I'm just sticking mostly to the public recreational area around Briceburg/Midpines.

Scan over cracks in the bedrock. Those are the easiest spots to check with a detector. The harder and more silicified bedrock is great as the miners had a hard time breaking into it and the cracks can be treasure traps. Make sure to have a good chisel and screwdriver. If bedrock is deep, go look for another creek. There's thousands of gulches and creeks in the motherlode and not all are detector friendly, or even have nugget gold. Just keep exploring till you get on a good nuggety one.
This time of year you can hunt the higher drier benches of creeks and smaller dry gulches and ground sluiced areas. As water levels drop in the summer, hit the creek guts themselves. Some guys hate detecting in water, but it can also be a lot of fun. Its basically sniping, but you are being clued in by you detector on which cracks or holes to clean out.

Thanks, I've had good success with easily accessible bedrock areas above drier benches and it's where I've found most of my flake gold so far. The best areas I've found so far are really hard to get to by hand though, I had to dig two feet to reach bedrock and it was full of very large stones that I could barely lift myself, only after removing that could I get to the gold and even then it was still just flakes and pickers only up to 2mm big.

If I had a more high end metal detector like a Minelab and there happened to be nuggets under all those large rocks, would it even be able to detect it?

 

[Lanny in AB]

Thanks, already read through it, that's how I was able to find some good areas to find flakes. But unfortunately the best areas are already claimed by someone else which makes it harder, I'm just sticking mostly to the public recreational area around Briceburg/Midpines.



Thanks, I've had good success with easily accessible bedrock areas above drier benches and it's where I've found most of my flake gold so far. The best areas I've found so far are really hard to get to by hand though, I had to dig two feet to reach bedrock and it was full of very large stones that I could barely lift myself, only after removing that could I get to the gold and even then it was still just flakes and pickers only up to 2mm big.

If I had a more high end metal detector like a Minelab and there happened to be nuggets under all those large rocks, would it even be able to detect it?

Nice to know you've read Eagle's thread. He was a great guy, and I'm lucky to have known him and to have been able to call him a friend.

When it comes to detecting, mineralization has a profound effect on a detector's ability to see deep or not. If nuggets are under large rocks at depth, that's also an issue that challenges detectors, regardless of the brand.

Bug has given you some great tips, and if you can, find out who owns some of the claimed spots and see if you can get permission to detect; it does happen. Moreover, if you agree to pay a percentage, with the claim owner getting first pick of the gold for their percentage, that might help as well.

Gold moves every year when the water is high enough, so just because a public area may not have a nugget on or in shallow bedrock one year doesn't mean it won't be there the next, and so on. I've recovered enough nuggets that way to know it happens.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[beekbuster]

buying the most expensive detector wont be a miracle wand. they are nice and work very well, but the most powerful tool to success is between your ears. if you are finding 1 grain pieces that is detectable sized gold. dig every target, and dig the whole crack. heavies stick together

 

[AllenJ]

firebird the really nice thing about a detector is it allows you to look in a lot of places pretty quickly. Detect everything you think might hold gold and detect stuff that is questionable to you. What I feel my detector does best for me while working around rivers and creeks isn't so much about telling me that there is gold in good looking stuff, but instead it tells me there is heavies/gold in stuff that I would have otherwise passed on.

 

[beekbuster]

gb2 is an excellent detector. there is a reason they are still $800 after 20 years on the market. it will find the smallest gold compared to any other detector