Tell me about finding gold

peternap · December 17, 2007, 08:55:14 PM

Our farm is in the Virginia Gold belt. I have a couple of miles of river front and in fact, My son found a nugget in the river....but lost it

I bought a metal detector but haven't had time to play with it yet. The whole place is loaded with quartz as well.

How do I start?

glenn kangiser · December 17, 2007, 11:08:51 PM

I would suggest first panning in various places to see where you get color to start. The miners generally started at the river then worked their way up the streams following the color until they found the vein that was producing it.

You could lay out a map on paper with squares and note locations of where you find it as you sample. Gold heads for the lowest place so if you have bedrock, you want to work your way down to it if possible. Inside curves of a stream are where the water slows down and generally where you see black sand is also the area where the gold will be.

Have you learned to pan and tell the difference between gold and pyrite? Are there people around who might be willing to teach you about it. It's pretty hard to cover it all starting out, so first I would search and study on panning as it is a primary sampling method.

The placer gold (washed into streams- rivers and sand) will be the easiest to get then you can work into the hard rock as you study up on it more. I'm just getting started on it.

A place to start. Keep me posted on your intents and how much you want to get into this and I can point you in the right direction. For big placer work you would be looking at a backhoe and trommel. First you need to find enough to justify the expense. There are some small ones on the site below. My miner buddy thinks that for serious placer work any thing less is wasting time.

Quartz is an indicator of possible gold but only a small percentage of quartz has gold. Look for dirty - rusty etc. quartz with metalic inclusions. Other things carry gold too. Greenstone, porphyry, slate - etc. Also remember - gold is most likely to be found where it has been found before.
://www.prospectorsparadise.com/
Prospectors Paradise - Recreational Gold Prospecting

December 19, 2007, 10:55:01 AM

I see a program on the Outdoor Channel from time to time called Gold Fever. Actually it is an advertisement for the Gold Prospectors Association. With membership you get a catalog that lists properties the association has user priveleges for across the US. You also get a gold pan, sniffer bottle, some other goodies and a subscription to their periodical. That is all I know, what I have seen on their ad. I have been a rockhound for years but never got involved in prospecting for gold.
It looks like they have a website: http://www.goldprospectors.org/
Their TV schedule is on the website. Looks like about $80 to get started and $50/yr renewal.

peternap · December 19, 2007, 05:08:12 PM

Thanks! I looked over Glenns site an got the basic idea. I'm going to order a pan and get started.

glenn kangiser · December 20, 2007, 12:35:27 AM

Let the fun begin.

I went to meet my chemist friend today who holds several patents on extraction of gold. My job was on hold for today waiting for an engineer so I had fun -

January 01, 2008, 10:19:20 PM

Peter, I found this in Google books - a free pdf download.

Read the section on gold. It has a lot of information about gold in Virginia and North Carolina.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=8&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3Dybj3OxWXHTgC%26pg%3DPR9%26lpg%3DPR9%26dq%3Dseparate%2Bgold%2Bfrom%2Broasted%2Biron%26source%3Dweb%26ots%3DFUpYg7GocL%26sig%3D6Uxv_mjrpxhWBLAxeK0q5w6kfv4&ei=lJJ6R5ObAqfgpgTF5LFg&usg=AFQjCNGRR3Ag6SLz9Xw-2h-uSg2FCdMCSw&sig2=6QW3F3ioQ4nCnTIY8qmfkA

peternap · January 01, 2008, 10:45:24 PM

Thanks Glenn

glenn kangiser · February 08, 2008, 11:03:14 PM

Hey, Peter, I joined a couple Gold Forums -- you could too. Great info - heres good for starters.

http://www.goldgold.com/stories/basicsof1.htm

glenn kangiser · March 23, 2008, 03:37:50 AM

Peter, I got some info from the Gold Forum for you -- Virginia info.

VIRGINIA LIST

4246. Imwold, Mary E. (2003). Picks & Pans: Virginia Prospecting. International California Mining Journal ICMJ, issue April 2003.
4247. Inwood, Harold (1995). Highbanking a Saprolite Deposit Fauqnier County, Virginia. International California Mining Journal ICMJ, issue October 1995.
4248. Anon (2007). Gold In Virginia. Virginia Division of Mineral Resources Publication.
read online: www.mme.state.va.us/dmr/PUB/Brochures/gold.html
4249. Beal, Mark A. (1982). Geologic Evaluation of a Placer Gold Deposit in Southern Fauquier County, Virginia. Undergraduate senior thesis. Department of Geology, University of Maryland.
4250. Carpenter, R.H.; and S.F. Carpenter (1991). Heavy Mineral Deposits in the Upper Coastal Plain of North Carolina and Virginia. Economic Geology volume 86, pages 1657-1671.
4251. Dara, Dawson (2003). There's Gold in them thar hills!! and fossils too!!
read online: www.msstate.edu/dept/geosciences/CT/TIG/WEBSITES/LOCAL/Summer2003/Dawson_Dara/day6.html
4252. Hammett, A.B.J. (1966). Gold Mining in Virginia. Chapter 8 in: The History of Gold. Braswell Printing Co., Kerriville, Texas. 1966
readable online: www.mme.state.va.us/dmr/PUB/Chapters/VaGold/auham1.html
4253. Overbey, Charles A. (1981). Big Ten's Map of Virginia gold: 200 mines and prospects, creeks and branches, secondary roads, panning technique, gold facts, large scale: gold history, background, karat, characteristics, weight, fineness. Publisher: Cocoa Beach, Florida: Big Ten Inc.
4 maps on 1 sheet.
4254. Sweet, P.C. (1980). Process of gold recovery in Virginia. Virginia Minerals, volume 26, pages 29-33.
Brief account of gold recovery methods in Virginia in historical times.
4255. Sweet, P.C. (1980). Gold in Virginia. Virginia Division of Mineral Resources Publication #16, 77 pages.
purchase 8$ from: www.dmme.virginia.gov
4256. Sweet, P.C.; and David Trimble (1983 - Reprint 2001). Virginia Gold Resource Data. Virginia Division of Mineral Resources Publication #45, 196 pages.
purchase 11$ from: www.dmme.virginia.gov

March 23, 2008, 11:08:23 AM

Hi guys, prospecting for gold can be great fun. My buddy and I have been doing it for years now. We have not hit the mother lode yet but just the anticipation of finding it can be a rush. We live in the Gold belt, or actually near the gold belt. Virgina City is about 45 minutes away, but that was mostly all hard rock mining, and primarily silver, but they pulled out a lot in the Comstock day. We usually go into California about an hour or two away and placer mine. Unfortunately between all the private land and claimed rivers it can be hard to find good spots to pan. I've got a sluice box, pans etc. and my buddy a metal detector. It can be back breaking work after while stooping over a pan all day, you really need a little camping stool to save your back. Most of the gold clubs around here have a lot of members and their claims are worked over pretty good. From what we have heard it's been pretty hard for them to find gold. We see a lot of dredges around here, it's really the way to go but we're not that serious about it. Found some gold last year in the Bear river near Colfax last year, not a lot we got there later in the season. We also found some the year before at Woods creek in Jamestown. One of those claims where you pay for the day and they let you work it. I was kind of suspicious that they we planting it but you never know. Those types of places are really good to go to anyway. You will normally find something and there are people who will show you the technique of panning or sluicing and give you pointers if you're just beginning. I plan on going out in a couple of weeks, the water will still be too high, but with the price of gold now the rivers will be swarming with people. The dredgers get there pretty early in the season, put their wet suits on and clean up the bottom and all the crevices they can get to. That usually just leaves us small pickins, but ya never know when you'll hit pay dirt, so we keep going out. We have'nt had much luck shooting for nuggets with a metal detector. Been to lots of abandoned mines but there is usually so much trash around and the detector has a hard time discriminating. Great fun though.

glenn kangiser · March 23, 2008, 11:18:35 AM

Great to know there is another prospector in the bunch Garrett. I really like Virginia City.

If you get down my way stop in- I'm 40 miles from Yosemite.

Story is about the same around here --- easy stuff is gone but 80 percent is still supposed to be around. I went with the rock club to Roaring Camp out of Jackson area, and I'm sure they salted or at least enhanced the experience. After I left I figured out that the only place you were most likely to find gold there was in the piles of soil run through their trommel. The real gold they had was all of the dude miners coming there to mine at $500 per week for cabins -- still a nice place for a dude ranch though.

I do have a friend that found 110 ounces in a pocket of rock in an old mine though. About 2 feet deep in the wall.

I have the same luck with detecting and have a couple decent detectors.

glenn kangiser · March 23, 2008, 11:23:36 AM

Here's my new posting on the Alaska Gold Forum. It is the most helpful Gold Forum I know of.

http://bb.bbboy.net/alaskagoldforum-viewthread?forum=2&thread=506

Garrett In Tahoe · March 23, 2008, 11:28:48 AM

Glenn, we had reservations last year at Roaring Camp. Had to cancel, my buddies back went out. Had heard it was kind of picked over so we decided to forfeit the deposit for now. We had planned on doing the week there. We have a friend that goes up to Lundy Lake near you. Apparently had good luck nugget shooting the old tailings. Going out there later when the snow melts to check it out. I guess it is a bit of a hike though. I've looked it up on the net, it looks pretty cool.

glenn kangiser · March 23, 2008, 11:35:04 AM

Thanks for the tip on Lundy Lake -- I hadn't heard about it. Also Star Lakes on top of Mt Raymond -- if your into some rough 4 wheeling -- I think it is Galena with some Silver -- I forget but it is near the top of the cliff at the south side of the East lake, Some specimens are near 50% galena.

Roaring Camp is OK if you stay in their trommeled prepared piles of soil. Other than that, places that should have produced didn't show a speck-- but I was just there for the day on the $10 special for the club. 3 of us felt the same - the others were more experienced than I at the time.

March 23, 2008, 11:36:28 AM

I'm off for the day to find more.

gandalfthegrey · March 23, 2008, 08:06:46 PM

Well Glenn.... did you find the elusive "Golden Easter Egg"?

glenn kangiser · March 24, 2008, 02:20:09 AM

I found a small bit of it. Like a pinch for ma and a pinch for Mike -- we both worked at it -- It was fun, working the old gold traps set by some old miner 150 years ago or so.

This one was especially well built - sllanted back at about 30 degrees to over a foot deep - smooth, plus several dams above this ne that were possibly not as well crafted but obvious gold traps.

gandalfthegrey · March 24, 2008, 10:02:52 AM

I know the Mt. Raymond area well. I led a firld expedition there on Archaeology in the late 60s. Never foud gold, course I was'nt looking for it then either.

peternap · March 24, 2008, 06:43:49 PM

Thanks for the information Glenn.

I'm going to spend some serious time looking this summer but I have the bug. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while because I did find some. Not much but enough to say I did it.

glenn kangiser · March 25, 2008, 12:16:59 AM

That's great, Peter. Let us know how you do. It's fun to get out there and see what the old prospectors did -- even get a little reward for your effort.

Gandalf, the MT Raymond area is cool. There is a small copper mine of some sort on one of the little side roads there. I was in it probably 30 years ago. I got an ore bucket from the tramway there. Carried it about 1/4 mile uphill through the brush.

The cable was laying on the ground abandoned.

March 27, 2008, 11:39:22 AM

Quote from: peternap on December 19, 2007, 05:08:12 PM
Thanks! I looked over Glenns site an got the basic idea. I'm going to order a pan and get started.

Went out panning Tuesday down in California, at the Bear and American Rivers. Found a little, but it was really more of a scouting trip to check conditions. Going back next week better prepared.

Peter the best gold pan I have found is the one that Roaring Camp sells, and I've tried several types. There are all types, metal, plastic, small, large etc. The Roaring camp pan is plastic, has riffles on one section and a trap in the bottom below the riffles.The trap is especially good for beginners. The size is comfortable to use. If you use a plastic pan clean it well and scuff it up to get rid of the oils from manf. If interseted I'll try to find you the link.

Glenn what's your take on this.

MountainDon · April 11, 2008, 01:43:56 PM

Well, let me tell ya', sometimes you find gold when and where you're least expecting it.

I sort of forgot about this till just the other day K reminded me. Last year when we encountered the very large warm bear stool we also found a small amount of gold. Same weekend, not the same place.

Right there near our Jemez property. The old geezer we bought the land from had told me he had dowsed the land and pointed out the two best spots for water. He also indicated that the back slope had some gold. Ya' right!?

Anyhow K just took the gold in to see what it was worth. $250!! I was amazed! Okay, the small stones in the ring contributed to that value, but it's better than a kick in the head.

We also mined the parking lot at IHOP a few weeks back and came up with a hefty ring, 3 small stones. $850 for it!

If anyone wants the GPS coordinates I'll share. I'm not going to formalize my claim.

NM_Shooter · April 11, 2008, 01:53:03 PM

While picknicking on a sand bar in the Rio Grande a couple of years ago, my oldest daughter found a decent sized chunk of turqoise. It had been smoothed from being in the river and was a pretty exciting find for her. They found a mother load of pyrite once, and thought we were rich

peternap · April 11, 2008, 06:25:26 PM

Quote from: Garrett In Tahoe on March 27, 2008, 11:39:22 AM
Quote from: peternap on December 19, 2007, 05:08:12 PM
Thanks! I looked over Glenns site an got the basic idea. I'm going to order a pan and get started.

Went out panning Tuesday down in California, at the Bear and American Rivers. Found a little, but it was really more of a scouting trip to check conditions. Going back next week better prepared.

Peter the best gold pan I have found is the one that Roaring Camp sells, and I've tried several types. There are all types, metal, plastic, small, large etc. The Roaring camp pan is plastic, has riffles on one section and a trap in the bottom below the riffles.The trap is especially good for beginners. The size is comfortable to use. If you use a plastic pan clean it well and scuff it up to get rid of the oils from manf. If interseted I'll try to find you the link.

Glenn what's your take on this.

YES!!! Please do send me the information. Thanks!!!