Found flakes in a small stream...what should I look for upstream for the source?

[scooper77515]

I found a small stream on the side of a foothill, and it is full of flakes. I was thinking of moving upstream and testing the silt until I no longer find flakes. I figure that would put me near the source of the flakes.

What should I be looking for on my way upstream to hopefully find a vein or other source of these flakes?

 

[After-1-]

Nice,------------------ Maybe post on the Prospecting Forum and get some first hand info.------after1-------------GH-------------------

 

[scooper77515]

I don't come on here often, and was not aware that there was a prospecting forum...looking now, and will head that way!

Thanks

 

[MattBullSummerville]

Yes go to the prospector form and hit up Steve H. He has been very helpful to many people on here.

 

[brianc577]

Tell me exactly where you found it and I will tell you which way to go in a couple of weeks :0)

 

[scooper77515]

Ha!

I remember how that went over back in '49!!!

 

[Goldstrike]

Need a hand with panning and sluicing those yella' rocks?lol!!! Make sure the areas you go to don't have an old prospector with a double barrel shotgun hiding behind a tree!!! Seriously, make sure it isn't someone's claim and private land before you venture out and don't go alone. Good luck!

 

[scooper77515]

Nope, Forest Service land, open to the public with Day Use fees or yearly pass, which I have.

Carry a gun, but mostly for bears, not for other people.

Went to storage unit today and got out my heavier equipment, to bypass some of the dirt and sand, and get more to the flakes.

 

[mcb613]

Wow, your lucky! Never panned before but always thought of trying some day. What state are you in? Cali or Arizona? Have fun with it.
BTW, I think the deposits would be in a low spot. I think I douls just clean that exact location out and not worry about tracking it upstream at this point. I dont think it will take you to a pot of gold ???

 

[scooper77515]

Washington.

My theory is I can pull flakes out for weeks and not make a whole lot of money, but if I can go upstream and find an exposed vein (or larger nuggets), I can grab a couple larger chunks and cash in WAY better.

Since this is such a low hill, with a small stream coming down from somewhere up higher, I shouldn't have to hike too far upstream to find where the gold is flaking off from.

 

[scooper77515]

Since I was a kid, I have always looked in streams and rocky areas for any signs of gold. My wife and I have been travelling from Texas to Colorado, all around Oregon, and now into Washington, and I have been finding small flakes on the beaches and in some of the streams. This is the first time I have found any decent sized flakes that have any potential for being any source of income.

The beach gold from Oregon was literally microscopic. The stuff I found on the Columbia river was a bit bigger, and I actually took it in to a jeweler to have it weighed, and it was about $9 worth, found in about an hour.

This current stream is much richer, and I estimate I extracted about $50 worth in two hours, and actually got to the point where I was throwing away all the small stuff and only keeping what I could physically pick up easily with my fingers.

I assume that the flakes will get bigger the closer I get to the source. So I am looking in to how to track that source.

 

[scooper77515]

Went again today, but only had an hour or so to look, because the sun went behind a cloud or something, and we couldn't see the flakes anymore.

But, I brought home a bucket full of pay dirt to go through later, and I used a 24" square magnetic "sluice" to pull a bunch more out, that I need to go through with a magnet to remove the iron flakes that create the matrix that catches all the gold flakes. You can see the gold reflecting in the photo flash among the black iron flakes.

Taught my wife how to use a pan, and she found a pretty good bit, but my vial is about twice as thick as what I found last time in TWO hours.

Also, did an acid test and a smear test and it passed as gold, and not as pyrite.

 

[Zinc Penny]

Your lucky, right now California has brutal laws can't pretty much mine with anything but a pan. Because environmentalists claimed miners were killing fish.

 

[scooper77515]

All I do is take a shovel full of sand from the water, place it on the "sluice", and let water do the rest. I am only using the sand on the surface, which will be going down stream at the next rain, anyway.

I know to keep any prospecting activities VERY basic, because the law will land on you in a second if you get big, and especially if you use any chemicals or larger excavating tools to move large amounts of soil.

 

[Zinc Penny]

, would really like to get out and look for gold. Just don't have time equipment or want to read all the laws. Too time consuming. My family has been in California since gold rush and did manage to strike it rich and buy land and have a large farm.

 

[scooper77515]

I have spent just a little over $200 on equipment, including the price of a shovel. I have the CleanGold magnetic "sluice", and a Nugget Bucket, both came with small pans. Both have produced gold flakes for me, but just stabbing the pan into the sand and washing away the light stuff, and plucking the larger flakes out with tweezers has worked the best for me, obtaining the most and largest flakes in the shortest time.

And I do not do this to make a living, even though I will have no regrets if I stumble upon something large enough to sell.

This is a time of quiet and reflection while being up in the mountains, listening to the sound of cascades and rushing water. It is peaceful and relaxing, while allowing me and the family to be together up in the woods.

So "finding the time" is not an issue for us. This is something we look forward to on weekends or sunny afternoons.