Basic Prospecting Question ;

[grumpy]

I have a question about finding a area that has promise. If you are in the washes and draws in the sw deserts and looking for likely spots for color would it be better to start looking with a metal detector and when finding gold with that start processing bedrock areas and such in that area??? Or is it better to just start digging in a likely area with good looking potential , shallow bedrock ect?? We are new to the SW dry wash country prospecting any tips appreciated .
Is it normal to find fine gold and smaller flakes in the same spot as a small nugget is found with a metal detector are are they unrelated?
Thanks
Grumpy

 

[grumpy]

Ok Guess I didnt make myself clear; Reallly common for me
I ll try again; Im wondering if you need to find some sign of gold with a metal detector before going to dry washing and such or vise versa or is there not relation to these tow in prospecting in the desert?? Hope everyone is not as confused as me;
Thanks
Grumpy

 

[marmota.monax]

I work the Rand and Stringer Districts around Randsburg CA. I've done it both ways, some people prefer one over the other. To select an area to drywash I mostly use the diggin' and wet/dry pannin' method select a spot. You can always join a prospecting club to start and go where gold has been found before. I currently belong to the Orange County 49ers and PCSC. Both clubs have good claims in my area. I'm not a professional prospector just a weekend warrior but I've got gold from Randsburg and Goler.

Yes, I have found fine gold and small nuggets in the same spot.

Hope this helps...

 

[IdahoGoldGettR]

Sorry for the delay Grumpy, I spent a few hours at the river today. I use to live in Arizona and while down there, I did more dry wash than metal detecting. Reason being was that there was more fines & nice size pickers than the larger nuggets. Also, the amount of trash metal that was found became very time consuming. So, I elected to dry wash the areas that were known mostly for metal detecting and with good results. I had nothing but a bellows type washer (it was all I could afford at the time). Anywhere I found some floater quartz, I pan sampled. Some times I would just make an afternoon trip just so I'd fill 10-12 sand bags of sampling material. They were then brought home and processed for gold. After a few of these outings, I began packing in a 2 1/2 gal. jug of water, plastic tub, and panned near the sampling spot. It's amazing what you learn by just trying different things. I learned to never pack a dozen sand bags through a desert again. Anyway, the answer to your question is: if you or others find gold nuggets in an area with a metal detector, there is most likely smaller gold as well. Most detectors do not pick up gold that weighs less than 1/3 of a gram. To me, that's a whole lot of small gold just begging to be dry washed. Best places to look are: Dry washes, gullies, drainage dips, draws/passes, valley depressions, etc. are all like spots. As mentioned, keep your eyes out for any quartz pieces, especially if you find it containing pyrite. This is a good bet that gold is near by. One last thing, if you find some high exposed embankments, sample above the "cleachy" (hard packed clay) layer. This will be a thin layer containing dark colored sediments and some river washed gravels. It however, is not to be confused with top soil or overburden which exists on the subsurface. P.S. Shown below is from today's outing: Photo 1) a partial cup of concentrates. Photos 2&3) processed gold taken on the prospecting trip.

 

[grumpy]

Ok Randy; So you look for foat quarts; Im assuming this is just small chunks of quarts pieces laying about on the ground: So you dig likely places near this or metal detect; would this work on the top of hills or in the flats or in washes and ravines?? or all of the above??? I hate to be so SLOW here but where I come from we have something called WATER which makes most of this totally different.
Thanks
Grumpy

 

[IdahoGoldGettR]

The term "floater quartz" is described as small weathered / fractured quartz pieces that may have been washed down or eroded away from the original source (quartz vein/out cropping). Generally, these out cropping were found in mid-late 1800's on a hillside. Even then, some cropping had been weathered and the quartz could have been found in the lower valleys. They also may have settled in a depression commonly called "alluvial bench deposits." These areas if found, can be more productive than stream placers or washes. Quartz containing gold that can be seen with the naked eye is referred to as "free milling" gold. Now just because the quartz you find doesn't hold visible gold, doesn't mean there isn't gold nearby. The shape of the quartz piece can tell you a lot. If it is small and worn, it has travel a considerable distance. If there is an abundance of course small quartz pieces - meaning jagged or broken with rough edges, then this is evidence that the source is near. Obviously, larger quartz rock will point toward the same thing.
Once a quartz area has been discovered, it is now time to access its perimeter. I only spend 10-15 minutes looking in each N,S,E & W direction to determine where there is visible quartz and where there isn't. Then I metal detect that area that holds the quartz. If by chance no gold is found in this area, don't give up metal detecting. Observe the high areas surrounding this quartz site and proceed to metal detect up there. Any dips, saddles, or slightly raised embankments are investigated as these are all possible "bench deposits." Work under and near all rocks, cactus piles, bushes or mesquite wood. Lastly, if the metal detecting hasn't found anything, again don't throw in the towel. It is quite possible that gold exists but of the smaller variety and the area has been over-worked with metal detecting. it is now time to do some pan sampling or dry washing. Ask yourself one thing while you look up to that valley's hillside, if I were a piece of gold from an out cropping - where would I have rested? Then begin digging there. I personally choose spots that show larger stone (from 1-2 inches to fist size). If ravines or washes are available, this would be my first area of exploration. Finding gold is never easy and working the deserts, is even harder. But no matter the terrain, the rewards are still there and can be just as gratifying.