absentee prospecting??

[silvercop]

i have read about how some of the old timers would use burlap sacks that were weighted down in a creek to absentee prospect. has anyone ever heard of this? if so what would be some methods of doing that today? i would really like to know if anyone has ever tried it and what were the results?

 

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[pippinwhitepaws]

never read the story of the golden fleece?

 

[enamel7]

I've heard of it. Now days people anchor shag carpet and get it after the spring floods.

 

[Bumpstick]

I heard some where that they would place Coconut shell carbon in sacks to help collect.

 

[paratrooper]

I worked with a guy from Rumania who had taken quite a liking to prospecting . He told me that back home folks would put sheep skins under the water and keep them there with rocks After the spring run they would go back and get some gold . They couldn't make a big deal about it since it was a Communist state and everybody was scared of being noticed .

 

[Hoser John]

 

[Lookin]

I do this and it works....well, not really this, but similar. Rather than using burlap or sheepskins, I use culvert pipes that go under roadways on gold bearing creeks. Just clean them out - especially the up hill side - and it is sometimes amazing what you find!

Material in a creek is constantly moving, especially during flood events. Running that material over a sluice (or burlap, et al) is just a way to stop the flood gold from moving farther along.

Also, ford crossings that are concrete lined or that have some sort of barrier are another place to look. Some concrete fords have grooves in the concrete for traction. These are automatic fine gold catchers!

Good luck,

Lookin

 

[Bumpstick]

While prospecting for a new week end location I came across an area that some one else was working; the bank at a public access to the river.
I snooped at what they where doing and noticed they had a 10' X 10' piece of indoor outdoor carpeting they where using for the same purpose.
About 2 yards of shore line looked to have been processed earlier but no tailing pile. Maybe they took the material home to process.
I didn't mess in there area, just took a mental picture of why they set up where they did.
Nice flat inside bend of the river with steep bedrock on the far side.

 

[gold4me]

I have seen army ammo canisters and burlap used in small streams in North Ga. Another method is to locate a gold bearing stream and clean the culvert pipe that goes under the road. You then will have a sluice that the goverment paid for an installed. All you have to do is get the gold.

 

[pippinwhitepaws]

spiders live in culverts...yeck...sure have gotten a lot of web in my hair over the years...

 

[silvercop]

thanks for all the information. someone sent me a pm and said they had seen somone selling a "gold trap" a few years back in one of the prospector magazines. i would really like to find something that would work in a small creek that i could check on about once a week, if any such thing exists. i like the idea about the pipe with grooves, i think that would work if you could get it anchored right

 

[jewelerdave]

The once a week idea would be nice but it takes a lot of moving water to move gold,
Only after spring run off will you get anything more than silt, fish poo, and leaves.
Unless you shovel dirt over it, but at that point your just sluicing.
A trap will only semi work, your just making a false bedrock and hoping for the best. you cant control water speed, material feed etc, so you may lose more gold than recover.
most guys I have talked to said it washed away after spring run off as it was not bogged down enough. Or people stole them or vandalized it.
If you do this, and you want to get a good amount of gold, it will have to be staked down hard. Tied and marked so you can find it again.
Also, figure on doing a lot of digging to recover it. The only streams that are really worth reprospecting are the ones whos courses change a bit every year, If you reconize the same spot year after year. no new gold is accumulating. dont waste your time. most streams in the US are so controlled anymore you dont get much movement of sand and dirt expect in the mid channel. In most cases, its better off to just work the same gold traps in bedrock each year rather than to fleece it. the guys who are doing the culverts have the right Idea. get what you can out of the traps that are already there, either natural, or man made. Much more productive.

 

[flyspekau]

Just line up a bunch of boulders in rows, theres your sluice box.......