Portland & Gold Panning

[SilverSalmon]

Portland & Gold Panning

Does anybody know why there's no gold around the Portland area? I was having a debate with my buddy that the southern Oregon and Eastern Oregon Geology must be older and more eroded then the Portland area....but I'm no geologist. He thinks we should check all the rivers around here in Portland, but we find good color and gold down in southern Oregon. I also argued that when the pioneers were coming through here they MUST have already checked all the rivers and creeks around Portland. Any input??

 

[wheelerite]

Re: Portland & Gold Panning

I have found flower gold on the mollala river, I also have herd this year, that there is a couple of claims on quartz creek on highway 26 towards the coast.
k.smith

 

[goldpaner]

Re: Portland & Gold Panning

Does anybody know why there's no gold around the Portland area? I was having a debate with my buddy that the southern Oregon and Eastern Oregon Geology must be older and more eroded then the Portland area....but I'm no geologist. He thinks we should check all the rivers around here in Portland, but we find good color and gold down in southern Oregon. I also argued that when the pioneers were coming through here they MUST have already checked all the rivers and creeks around Portland. Any input??

I HAVE FOUND GOLD FLOWER AND FLAKE IN UPPER MOLLOLA HILLS AND ESTACADA EAGLE CREEKS ITS ALL AROUND PORTLAND YOU JUST HAVE TO FIND GOOD STUFF BY SERCHING

 

[SilverSalmon]

Re: Portland & Gold Panning

Does anybody know why there's no gold around the Portland area? I was having a debate with my buddy that the southern Oregon and Eastern Oregon Geology must be older and more eroded then the Portland area....but I'm no geologist. He thinks we should check all the rivers around here in Portland, but we find good color and gold down in southern Oregon. I also argued that when the pioneers were coming through here they MUST have already checked all the rivers and creeks around Portland. Any input??

I HAVE FOUND GOLD FLOWER AND FLAKE IN UPPER MOLLOLA HILLS AND ESTACADA EAGLE CREEKS ITS ALL AROUND PORTLAND YOU JUST HAVE TO FIND GOOD STUFF BY SERCHING

I've found the molalla flour gold.......Do you guys think there's bigger stuff up there Or has that river just been worked so hard over the years there's nothing big left? There's one spot up there in particular I'm going to hit this year, once some of that snow clears up there...I was hoping it still had some bigger stuff still hanging around...

I did not know about Estacada though...that's right by me, I'm out in Troutdale. Was it all flour gold up there too?

 

[SilverSalmon]

Re: Portland & Gold Panning

After reading my last post I wanted to focus on this question.

Is there anybody who has a lot of knowledge of the geology around here? I'm not after your guys good gold spots (Unless you'd like me to join you I gotta strong back and a hard shovel). just some more knowledge of why there seems to be more gold down south than up north in Oregon. Is it the age of the rocks? Or just some random chance that more gold seemed to spew up down south than up north

 

[vegas247]

Re: Portland & Gold Panning

Hello, I'm also looking for good spots in the portland area. I have a whites GMT and a minelab 3500 we could work 2gether to find the big and small stuff the GMYT will follow the highest black sand concentration an find the small stuff I've found a .03 picker in 4" of red clay and iron shist so were good there the 3500 will find anything big. aslo I have a drywasher that can be converted to a sluice with a little work as well. Let me know maybe we can work 2gether. Grant Runyon 702-373-7340 have you looked at mill creek? I have maps ETC...

 

[SilverSalmon]

Re: Portland & Gold Panning

Hello, I'm also looking for good spots in the portland area. I have a whites GMT and a minelab 3500 we could work 2gether to find the big and small stuff the GMYT will follow the highest black sand concentration an find the small stuff I've found a .03 picker in 4" of red clay and iron shist so were good there the 3500 will find anything big. aslo I have a drywasher that can be converted to a sluice with a little work as well. Let me know maybe we can work 2gether. Grant Runyon 702-373-7340 have you looked at mill creek? I have maps ETC...

Hey Grant,

Ya I'd definately be interested in diggin some dirt with ya. Your detector sounds pretty sweet. I haven't been using my Ace 250 which might be a mistake. I've read that the Ace isn't good at picking up the small stuff though and it's just one more thing I'm packing on my back. Too bad it started snowing again today......my Subaru can only make it so far up these snowy mountain roads I've been going to.. I haven't looked at mill creek yet, I just googled it & it looks like there's a few Mill Creeks in Oregon....is it down south? or eastern Oregon? The farthest south we've been so far is a little ways past Eugene.

We're planning on making a 2 or 3 week gold diggn road trip sometime this summer. Maybe we can hook up then? We're going to head down south somewhere around the Rogue (Kind of undecided where at the moment) and then cutting over to eastern oregon & work our way back north up to Highway 84 back to Portland.

Happy Diggns,

~Shaun aka silversalmon

 

[SilverSalmon]

Re: Portland & Gold Panning

~Grant

I just noticed you're from AZ. Do you know a lot about looking for gold out in the desert?

 

[elkman13]

Re: Portland & Gold Panning

I have looked for gold all over Oregon. Pan and detectors for 40 years. Hate to bust any balloon but I don't think you will find much gold around Portland.

 

[Jeffro]

Re: Portland & Gold Panning

The geology around Portland is not condusive to gold deposits. Sure, there are a few here and there but not much with any commercial value. Get a copy of Gold and Silver in Oregon AKA bulletin 61.

Bulletin 61 went out of print a long time ago, there is a reprint out there called Gold mining in oregon.

Both should be available at Powell's. The original has a gold cover.

 

[SilverSalmon]

Re: Portland & Gold Panning

I have looked for gold all over Oregon. Pan and detectors for 40 years. Hate to bust any balloon but I don't think you will find much gold around Portland.

Hey elkman13,

No worries my friend, I appreciate you busting balloons rather than me busting my ass and wasting my sweat for no gold ya know?

The geology around Portland is not condusive to gold deposits. Sure, there are a few here and there but not much with any commercial value. Get a copy of Gold and Silver in Oregon AKA bulletin 61.

Bulletin 61 went out of print a long time ago, there is a reprint out there called Gold mining in oregon.

Both should be available at Powell's. The original has a gold cover.

Hey Jeffro!!

Thanks for the info. I'll have to make a trip to Powells very soon.

You're like the Gold diggn Yoda for Oregonians here on Tnet! Reading some of your old posts have helped a rookie like myself a TON.

So the geology of Oregon the way I understand it in a nutshell is (and I could be totally off the mark): The cascades were kind of like the Hawaiin Islands at an early point in history with ocean beaches somewhere around Idaho? Then the ocean drained out for whatever reason (maybe the plate subducting off the coast pushed up the elevation?) And then later on volcanoes started going nuts in eastern Oregon (was this when the gold was getting pushed up?). I recently was reading that huge lava flows were coming down the gorge. So can I ask what exactly is not condusive about the Geology of Portland?? Is it just the type of rock that gold is associated with normally or was it just totally random chance that gold ended up being more plentiful down south and east? Orrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr do I just need to read the book bulletin 61 and it will answer all my questions?

Thanks Yoda,

Silver

 

[Jeffro]

Re: Portland & Gold Panning

Thanks for the compliments, but I'm no Yoda! Just got lucky a time or two....

Geology is not my strong suit, LOL! But put me in a gold bearing area and I'll find it.

Bulletin 61 will answer your questions, somewhat. It doesn't go into the geology around the Portland area per se, but does show the geology of the major gold bearing areas of Oregon. Touches on a couple areas near there, though.

Oregon has it all, from all the different types of rocks, to volcanoes, to hydrothermal vents, desert placers, ocean placers, hardrock deposits of so many different types.....

A good guy to get ahold of once you have a good understanding of geology is Tom Boehmker. That guy is a geology nut (and a great gold hunter).

He's probably at the Salem show right now, and last I heard he lived around Sweethome somewhere.

 

[SilverSalmon]

Re: Portland & Gold Panning

Thanks for the compliments, but I'm no Yoda! Just got lucky a time or two....

Geology is not my strong suit, LOL! But put me in a gold bearing area and I'll find it.

Bulletin 61 will answer your questions, somewhat. It doesn't go into the geology around the Portland area per se, but does show the geology of the major gold bearing areas of Oregon. Touches on a couple areas near there, though.

Oregon has it all, from all the different types of rocks, to volcanoes, to hydrothermal vents, desert placers, ocean placers, hardrock deposits of so many different types.....

A good guy to get ahold of once you have a good understanding of geology is Tom Boehmker. That guy is a geology nut (and a great gold hunter).

He's probably at the Salem show right now, and last I heard he lived around Sweethome somewhere.

Yoda or no....Good info U have .

Do you know if Tom has a website?

A question for ya on the desert placers, they're from ancient rivers right? Or just higher up where the river started the cut? Have you found any good books on ancient river beds of Oregon? It seems like good info on Oregon geology is tough to find or I'm just not googling it right..

I'm trying to get off the beaten paths a little bit so hikers quit asking me if I'm a forest ranger clearing the trail just because I have a shovel in one hand and a crowbar in the other ..

 

[Jeffro]

Re: Portland & Gold Panning

Desert placers-

Some are from flash floods and water action like you're thinking. Others are from normal weathering of the host rock and gravity does the rest. Some are from wind (called eolian placers) and some occur in areas where long gone lakes accumulated micro gold.

Desert areas are often good for hydrothermal vents, in eastern Oregon anyways.... think about the amount of hot springs we have here. A lot are mineralized.

There is a book out there on ancient rivers, but it mostly deals with California. It may give some insight on the lower part of Oregon, though.

I have a theory that the gold trends of the motherload and those of northern Nevada come to a point somewhere up north of K Falls. I think that whole area is undertapped as far as mineral exploration goes. There are quite a few areas that have been discovered, but I think there are more just waiting to be discovered. Terrain and ground cover back in the old days limited access. Nowadays those areas are more accessable, but it'd still be some rough testing.

 

[fishboymike]

Re: Portland & Gold Panning

Cant wait to get out west and do some panning, Ive done a little here In GA but live quite a ways from the gold areas. To much civilization here. SS have you tried under bypasses where the drains act as natural sluice boxes. always wanted to try that. See you guys soon. Mike

 

[SilverSalmon]

Re: Portland & Gold Panning

Cant wait to get out west and do some panning, Ive done a little here In GA but live quite a ways from the gold areas. To much civilization here. SS have you tried under bypasses where the drains act as natural sluice boxes. always wanted to try that. See you guys soon. Mike

I've tried a couple with no luck YET! We were driving around last year and ran across a road cut that was some sort of pure white rock. We stopped to check it out and I almost had a heart attack! The thing was stuffed with HUGE chunks of iron pyrite. That first big chunk we found.....Oh Man! We thought we were filthy rich for about 2 seconds

 

[Cynangyl]

Re: Portland & Gold Panning

lol I can relate! I remember us kids working all day loading up all our backpacks and wagon to bring home gold so we could be rich and then when we got there and Dad saw it, he made us haul it all back out....told us it was fool's gold or iron pyrite. Talk about crushed...we thought we had hit the motherlode and solved all the money problems!! lol

 

[vegas247]

Re: Portland & Gold Panning

I am definitely not saying there are 15 gram or ounce nuggets around portland but there can be color found. my thoughts are eastern,OR southern,OR but I have not been able to get to research there area an with the price of gold I'm sure the Rogue river is a complete cut throat mess. There is however a gold and platinum mine that's close to Vancouver that the GPAA has claims with a little work there may be some color there if there wasn't the gpaa would bother claiming it. It was a old vein mine not sure I have to look it up again in my book. I know my stepdad did real well a little east of here in Oregon because well I was there and we have 4 nugget pendents from the area around 3 OZ. total this was in the 80's however who knows now. Shaun maybe we can try that area its not close but not as far as Southern,OR Grant

 

[SilverSalmon]

Re: Portland & Gold Panning

I am definitely not saying there are 15 gram or ounce nuggets around portland but there can be color found. my thoughts are eastern,OR southern,OR but I have not been able to get to research there area an with the price of gold I'm sure the Rogue river is a complete cut throat mess. There is however a gold and platinum mine that's close to Vancouver that the GPAA has claims with a little work there may be some color there if there wasn't the gpaa would bother claiming it. It was a old vein mine not sure I have to look it up again in my book. I know my stepdad did real well a little east of here in Oregon because well I was there and we have 4 nugget pendents from the area around 3 OZ. total this was in the 80's however who knows now. Shaun maybe we can try that area its not close but not as far as Southern,OR Grant

What's the deal with GPAA? Do you just have to sign up and then notify them you're going to work on their claim or something like that? Do you think it's worth it? You're probably right about the Rogue I was looking it up awhile ago and I think it's only open like a 1/4 mile up and down from a boat launch or something like that? Not a whole lot of space.. There was a good article in the Oregonian a couple weeks ago saying only about 15% of the gold got taken out of eastern oregon, and commercial mines probably won't or can't get in because OR has so many regulations. There must be a lot of big stuff still hangn' around out in the Desert.

 

[Cynangyl]

Re: Portland & Gold Panning

You can sign up as a GPAA member at our site right here http://www.goldprospectorssupply.com/GPAA-MEMBERSHIP_p_0-69.html and with your packet you get information on each of the claims. You do not have to notify GPAA when you go to claims if you are a member but need to carry your card with you. Let me know if I can help answer any other questions you might have. We are GPAA members as well as LDMA members and the GPAA outtings are a blast!! Lots of good company and great chance to learn tons of new stuff!!