gold prospecting

Gold has been found in the Platte River??? I've only lived in NE for eight years and I've never heard that before. Do you know of anyone actually finding gold? Or is it more of an urban legend? Are there any historical places here in NE that can be searched? I just got my detector at Christmas but have only been out once due to the great weather we've been having. Do you know if there are a lot of detectors around here? I would love to get together with some others to do some searching once the weather gets better.
 

Hey Ron!

I'm not sure where I read it, but "back in the day" it was noted that some prospectors did, indeed find trace amounts of gold in the Platte River. This was attributed to the gold being carried out of the mountains. Now, it probably isn't enough to retire on, or maybe even buy a cup of coffee at Starbucks, but some say it is there. I do remember that the article said to look for the black sand deposits and go from there. I will try to find that article (now you've got me curious...) and let you know!

As far as metal detector around here, I'm not sure. There is one that meets in Omaha, but I myself have not attended. Mainly for the reason it is close to downtown -- too far for me to go. Yeah, call me a wuss, but I've also got three kids to look after while my wife is still at work. :)

Great news about the detector for Christmas! What kind did you get? I'm waiting for the snow to melt myself. I have a friend at work that also got one for Christmas, and he's getting all fidgetty about going and trying it out.

As far as sites here in NE, I'm not the person to ask. I honestly cannot say. I've been concentrating my efforts further West -- Colorado/Wyoming/South Dakota (Black Hills).

Best of luck in your searches! Hope this helps a little.

Gold Seeker
 

Thanks for the reply Gold Seeker. It's cool to hear that you've done a lot of detecting in CO/WY/SD. Have you been successful finding any gold? I've been wanting to plan a trip to CO in the spring to do some searching with my detector, especially on the banks of some of the streams.

The detector I got at Christmas was a White's DFX. I have really enjoyed it even though I've actually only been out with it a couple of times. I actually received my detector on the Friday before New Year's Eve and it's either rained or snowed every weekend since.... I'm ready for some nice weather and some thawed out ground so I can begin finding items. I went out yesterday and lunch to an old dried up lake and found numerous signals but the ground was so frozen that I couldn't even get through the surface. And out temps here today and tonight won't help matters any.

Do you live in Omaha? I live in Lincoln and would enjoy finding someone to go out with sometime if you would be interested.

Thanks again for replying and happy hunting.
 

Lincoln has a detecting club, contact Bob Love (don't have a tele#, but shouldn't be that hard to find)
I believe Grand Island has a club too - no info on them tho

There are stories that Spaniards buried gold in western NE along the Platte.
Haven't heard of any "large" natural gold deposits, but I have heard that
small flakes have been found in the Platte.

Contact Bob, he would be your best bet on Lincoln area.

Happy Hunting
 

If you are interested in the detectors club in Omaha, contact Ken Heaton. He is the one who started it, he is also the one who got the state to let us detect at state swimming areas. We all owe him a great deal of gratitude for that. I have a fisher cz-5 myself. Love to get out whenever possible.

Good hunting.
 

RonNewbie said:
Gold has been found in the Platte River??? I've only lived in NE for eight years and I've never heard that before. Do you know of anyone actually finding gold? Or is it more of an urban legend? Are there any historical places here in NE that can be searched? I just got my detector at Christmas but have only been out once due to the great weather we've been having. Do you know if there are a lot of detectors around here? I would love to get together with some others to do some searching once the weather gets better.
Click to expand...

FWIW,

Yes Gold has been found in Nebraska. Not in huge quantities as the difficulty with bedrock prospecting exists.

I'm heard of a a couple of people who have dredged in the North and South Platte Rivers west of Lewellyn to the state line and between Ft Collins and McConaughy and have found some fines.

A buddy and I have both found gold in Eastern Nebraska in tributaries of the Nemaha, Elkhorn and Platte, and have found gold in some locations. The eastern Nebraska gold is the result of glacial till and glacial retreats.

It is important to look at the glacial maps.. Look for moraine extents, in areas where you can find "bedrock" on the creeks and tributaries you can find gold. Fines in mosts pans if you get a good location.

http://www.emporia.edu/earthsci/gage/pre-wisc/gmap0.htm

It ain't much, don't forget to get permissions of land holders, make sure you know the trespassing laws on waterways for Nebraska.

if you find anything yourself communicate in this thread or on golddredger.com.

FWIW, checkout the SHOWMEGOLD for the missouri group.. Also, check out Leonard Leeper's website "golddredger.com"..
 

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