Northeastern Gold

[MightyMouse82]

When I was a kid my grandfather would always talk about how there's no reason why gold couldn't exist in the northern Appalachians, even to the extent of relative abundance out west. My question is (as I am no alchemist or geologist), what is it about the geology of the northern Appalachians that gold isn't abundant in areas like the Poconos in Pennsylvania or upstate New York? I know the Appalachians are much older than the Rockys, but I also know gold is fairly abundant in the Southeast too, so what makes the Northeast so drastically different in terms of geology and environmental conditions? Any info would be much appreciated.

 

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[bigalathenstn]

Well gold is where you find it, so until you look around for it, you never know.I live in SE TN and its the same mountain range, The Appalachains, and there is quite a bit of gold in my area.I think there is gold just about everywhere, its just that people dont look for it like they used to,Like back in the day someone migt have been looking for it there and might have found it, but when news came ofa big find, say Dalonega GA, everyone ran there and abandoned the place they were searching.Do some sample panning in different locations, who knows you might find the next mother load.

 

[gametalman52]

Actually gold is found all the way into New Hampshire. Saw a show of Tom Massie owner of the GPAA in the Potomac river by Washington DC and was finding gold. Ohio has gold from the glaciers bringing it down from Canada. You might just want to do some panning in your area. Also know there is gold in Virginia also.

 

[AMorgan]

Gold is most commonly found in areas which have experienced oceanic crust subduction. The east coast experienced this for a brief period of geologic time prior to the opening of the Atlantic. The west coast is still experiencing this activity, as are most other major gold producing areas.

Alan

 

[AU Seeker]

The Appalachians are a much older mountain range then the Rockies, at one time the Appalachians were as big or bigger then the Rockies, you can see this when looking at the Rockies, they are much rougher, they have not "weathered" as much as the Appalachians, thus the Appalachians do not have the "altitude" and "roughness" of the Rockies, this being the case a lot of the deposits that were in the Appalachians have eroded away and washed away in the rivers and streams and been pulverized into microscopic gold and in now in the oceans.


Skip

 

[MightyMouse82]

Interesting...thanks for the explanations guys.

 

[tzcards]

There is some placer gold in Vermont, NH and Maine. If you look, you can find it there are some links online to exactly where to go. If your ever interested I have my own maps drawn out with all the places were gold has been found. I took a trip last summer to maine and found a few grams one weekend. Nothing great but it made a fun camping trip weekend. I'm in Upstate NY(plattsburgh area)no sign of gold here. I tried a few places in the adirondacks with no luck.

 

[Functional]

When I was a kid my grandfather would always talk about how there's no reason why gold couldn't exist in the northern Appalachians, even to the extent of relative abundance out west. My question is (as I am no alchemist or geologist), what is it about the geology of the northern Appalachians that gold isn't abundant in areas like the Poconos in Pennsylvania or upstate New York? I know the Appalachians are much older than the Rockys, but I also know gold is fairly abundant in the Southeast too, so what makes the Northeast so drastically different in terms of geology and environmental conditions? Any info would be much appreciated.

Quotes from: http://www.unb.ca/fredericton/science/geology/dl/dl.htm

"Yang, X.-M., Lentz, D.R., Chi, D.R., and Thorne, K.G., 2006. Petrochemical Characteristics of Gold-Related Granitoids in southwestern New Brunswick, Canada. Exploration and Mining Geology (Northern Appalachian Gold Special Issue), v. 16, (accepted October 2005)."

"Park, A., Lentz, D.R., and Thorne, K.M., 2006. Deformation and vein formation: heterogeneities related to transient permeability in the Clarence Stream gold mineralized ductile shear zone, southern New Brunswick, Canada. Exploration and Mining Geology (Northern Appalachian Gold Deposits Special Issue), v. 16, (accepted June 2005)."

Perhaps more informative on gold in PA:
http://miningold.com/states/pa.html
And:
http://paprospector.com/article.php?story=find-gold-in-pennsylvania

F.

 

[wpareig]

I'm not sure why the Poconoc here in PA. don't have more gold, but I find as much here in PA. as I do in the Carolinas...... Yellow Breaches Creek in Harrisburg has produced quite a bit of gold for me, even though the local geoligest said there was none there (he has changed his tune an listed that as a gold producing area) and I have found quite a few nuggets on the Susquhanna River in Whyoming County..... I have been told many times that all of our gold here in PA. is from glacial deposits, but on the Yellow Breaches Creek in Harrisburg I have nice specimens of gold that are in quartz.... I guess they could be glaial deposit, but the quartz looks the same as what I dig out of the bank 80' above the creek.....

I don't care where it came from, just glad it's here (smile).....

 

[CanUDigIt]

Here's a map of the glacial deposits...
http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/topogeo/maps/map59.pdf

Here is another good one to verify that gold can be found many places in PA...
http://www.delawarevalleygpaa.com/

Check with the GPAA. Their site also lists other local gold prospector groups besides del-val.

 

[CanUDigIt]

Here are some locations a bit lower on the page with gps coordinates...
http://www.goldinpa.com/goldinwesternpa.htm