Strategy for hunting nugs in mountains, WA/OR?

[Bandiman]

It's been a struggle out there with the Axiom and GM1000 in the hills of WA and OR. Let's talk strategy.

Aside from some hot rocks that need some crushing, detecting for nugs has been a bust for me. I have access to some claims and open areas where I have hit old hydromines, Under hardrock prospects on hillsides, benches near old placer mines, hillsides under a bunch of quartz veins. I have detected ridges, washes, and kind of all over the place. I have spent a little time looking for specimens in creeks. I seem to hit so much Iron and being somewhat limited in digging potential post shoulder surgery 6 mo ago I move on.

The overburden is brutal in some areas here. How do you work these hills or hills like you'd find in WA and OR? Where do you work? Do you have better luck on top of lidar workings or around them? Creeks or hillsides? Makes me jealous of you AZ folks! Thanks!

 

[Tesorodeoro]

Here is a creek I found

Deepish bedrock and lots of overburden. Great place to find picks, shovels, ect. Certainly not steep and narrow. Once you have verified the character of the parent gold deposit, move up the draw/adjacent ridges.

 

[Tesorodeoro]

That pulverized rock came from somewhere perhaps nearby?
Don't see the diggings the rock piles come from.
If bedrock movement is killing the trees in the center there could be a fault line through there?
Bedrock may be beyond your digging abilities to get to?
Any other information that you have?

“If bedrock movement is killing the trees in the center there could be a fault line through there?”

Really, you think the bedrock is active enough to kill trees? That’s pretty short period of time for movement of a fault to kill vegetation. Do you find this is the case in your area?

In my area fault movement is MUCH slower, measured in thousands of years. Faults are where trees flourish. They provide space for roots and typically water either sits in the fault or leaks from a fault. I’m curious how it is in your area? I’ve never heard of fault lines killing trees. Flourishing trees and springs is typically how I find faults

 

[Assembler]

“If bedrock movement is killing the trees in the center there could be a fault line through there?”

Really, you think the bedrock is active enough to kill trees? That’s pretty short period of time for movement of a fault to kill vegetation. Do you find this is the case in your area?

In my area fault movement is MUCH slower, measured in thousands of years. Faults are where trees flourish. They provide space for roots and typically water either sits in the fault or leaks from a fault. I’m curious how it is in your area? I’ve never heard of fault lines killing trees. Flourishing trees and springs is typically how I find faults

Worth checking out what is killing a line of trees in the photo.

A picture of some diggings could answer some questions.

 

[Assembler]

Deepish bedrock and lots of overburden. Great place to find picks, shovels, ect. Certainly not steep and narrow. Once you have verified the character of the parent gold deposit, move up the draw/adjacent ridges.

Finding a deposit near the surface worth working will be the key here no matter the location.

 

[Tesorodeoro]

Worth checking out what is killing a line of trees in the photo.

A picture of some diggings could answer some questions.

You didn’t answer my questions?

 

[Assembler]

You didn’t answer my questions?

The geology and actions of faults can be in different time periods it is up to the miner to investigate the fault actions.

 

[Tesorodeoro]

National Forest Lands in the western United States are currently covered with dead and dying trees.

 

[Assembler]

You didn’t answer my questions?

“If bedrock movement is killing the trees in the center there could be a fault line through there?”

Really, you think the bedrock is active enough to kill trees? That’s pretty short period of time for movement of a fault to kill vegetation. Do you find this is the case in your area?

In my area fault movement is MUCH slower, measured in thousands of years. Faults are where trees flourish. They provide space for roots and typically water either sits in the fault or leaks from a fault. I’m curious how it is in your area? I’ve never heard of fault lines killing trees. Flourishing trees and springs is typically how I find faults

California has no active faults for thousands of years with no movements of rock resulting in earthquakes??

 

[Assembler]

National Forest Lands in the western United States are currently covered with dead and dying trees.

All in a line

 

[Assembler]

The geology and actions of faults can be in different time periods it is up to the miner to investigate the fault actions.

In the time frame of just a few thousand years a 7.8-magnitude earthquake will happen many times anywhere in the rim / ring of fire. The following is just an example that just happened:

Structural damage is seen in General Santos after a severe 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit on Monday morning.

 

[Assembler]

“If bedrock movement is killing the trees in the center there could be a fault line through there?”

Really, you think the bedrock is active enough to kill trees? That’s pretty short period of time for movement of a fault to kill vegetation. Do you find this is the case in your area?

In my area fault movement is MUCH slower, measured in thousands of years. Faults are where trees flourish. They provide space for roots and typically water either sits in the fault or leaks from a fault. I’m curious how it is in your area? I’ve never heard of fault lines killing trees. Flourishing trees and springs is typically how I find faults

If the average fault movement action in California is less the 90 seconds and the aftereffects known as an earthquake last for a few minutes.
Is this active enough to kill both plants and animals both in the earth and upon the surface of the earth?

 

[Assembler]

“If bedrock movement is killing the trees in the center there could be a fault line through there?”

Really, you think the bedrock is active enough to kill trees? That’s pretty short period of time for movement of a fault to kill vegetation. Do you find this is the case in your area?

In my area fault movement is MUCH slower, measured in thousands of years. Faults are where trees flourish. They provide space for roots and typically water either sits in the fault or leaks from a fault. I’m curious how it is in your area? I’ve never heard of fault lines killing trees. Flourishing trees and springs is typically how I find faults

What is the difference in the active fault action events in California and any other nearby States faults?

 

[Assembler]

Perhaps there is some diggings nearby down to bedrock with the three waste rock piles?

 

[russau]

I got a tip for you from this ole S. azz . If while your M.Ding along and you see some person following the same line and is periodically bending over digging with a tool, slow yous pace down a lot and scan better ! SORRY I just had to be my ole S. azz for grins ! NOT MEANT to be a H. AZZ !

 

[OreList]

Building on Tesorodeoro's point about going where detectable gold was actually produced: the USGS MRDS database lists 775 historic gold producers in Washington and 1,884 in Oregon, and many records carry an output class (small, medium, large), the type of workings and production years.
We mapped them county by county with the tables sorted by output class, which makes it quick to pull the bigger producers near ground you can get onto:
https://goldminesmap.com/gold-mines/oregon/
https://goldminesmap.com/gold-mines/washington/
The database was last updated around 2011 and some positions are approximate, so treat it as a list of leads for the old mineralogist reports rather than GPS spots.

 

[Tesorodeoro]

Building on Tesorodeoro's point about going where detectable gold was actually produced: the USGS MRDS database lists 775 historic gold producers in Washington and 1,884 in Oregon, and many records carry an output class (small, medium, large), the type of workings and production years.
We mapped them county by county with the tables sorted by output class, which makes it quick to pull the bigger producers near ground you can get onto:
https://goldminesmap.com/gold-mines/oregon/
https://goldminesmap.com/gold-mines/washington/
The database was last updated around 2011 and some positions are approximate, so treat it as a list of leads for the old mineralogist reports rather than GPS spots.

Ahh Orelist, my point was “detectable gold” a producer alone does not equal a deposit shedding detectable gold. The majority of gold recovered IS NOT detectable gold. A person needs to be familiar with the area, the history, the historical published reports, etc. knowing an area had produced gold historically is a good start though.

 

[Mine Shaft]

Boy someone was on to something that's for sure. Good luck.

 

[Lanny in AB]

Some great advice already given, and it's been my experience (to simplify this advice) that the best place to look for nugget gold with a detector (not a pin-pointer style) is where chunky gold was found in the past.
I know this might sound oversimplified, but it really is the best advice.
If you can find reports of where nuggets were being shed from a high-and-dry ancient channel, or where worked bedrock exists with lots of undisturbed hand-stacks, or in areas where nuggety gold was just downslope (in gulches) from rich quartz veins, those are the best places to find nugget gold or larger flakes (which the new VLF detectors excel at).
Always detect the outer margins of where the rich workings once were as less profitable ground was left unworked, but working it with a detector can produce some nice finds.
You'll have to develop an eye for ground that was disturbed over a hundred and fifty years ago or so or you'll miss some of the old workings, and always detect around old prospect holes where deeper levels of dirt were tossed out while exploring. I found a nice flake, with my detector, the size of my fingernail last summer doing just that. And, I've found enough nice nuggets around other prospect holes to never pass them up.
If you can get to it, exposed bedrock that was worked long ago can yield some bonanza gold if you find an ancient cemented crevice that was missed--quality metal detectors excel at that kind of work--seeing trapped gold the Oldtimers could never find, and believe me, they left gold behind. That's why I heavily hunt where they hunted the gold.
To summarize and elaborate a bit, go where detectable nugget size gold has been found in the past, and just because you're finding a lot of trash doesn't mean there's not gold there.
Lots of detectable nugget gold is masked by the harsher tones of steel and iron, and until you've used a quality magnet to weed those signals out, you'll miss the gold. And touching on something I haven't mentioned yet, are you scrubbing the ground with your coil and listening for faint whispers and tiny signals? If not, you're leaving gold, especially in heavily worked areas. As well, be sure you are finely ground-balanced to mineral rich soils or the nuggets will slip past you while you dig the louder iron/steel/non-ferrous trash sounds.

All the best,

Lanny