Any pointers on Ohio Gold?

[Axgar]

I am new to the idea of gold prospecting. .. good news is .. just for giggles i made my own pan with ridges in it out of a pie tin. and made a simple sluice as well and in the creek behind me found some small flakes .. (( strangely shaped at that .. kinda curled like it was shaven.. )) 1. is there a way to test if it is real.?? good news is that most water ways in ohio are public as long as they are navigatable by kyak.

I plan on getting a better pan cause the gold is so fine around here and my sluice box is working pretty good. lots of black sand ...

any good ideas on a begginers dredge.. one-two person operation perfered.

ok thanks and good hunting.

Axgar

 

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[nebraskadad]

Ax,

Test up and down the stream..

Here is a link with a bunch of GREAT info on prospecting..

http://www.goldgold.com/prospecting.html

 

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[Axgar]

.. I took some panoramioc pics of the creek whent he water was down and some close ups of the stream bed and what i am digging in .. i will post them on my web site when i get a few moments later this week.

I have been to that site and spent hours there .. thank you. very informative.

what part of the sand bar should i be looking on .. ?? i have a few i could dig on .. but no one has posted a responce to my last request. inside water flow .. outside water flow .. at the head of the water flow .. at the tail of it ..?? i dont wat to dig the Whole thing .. two of them about 25 feet long and about 3 foot wide and about hmm 3 foot deep or so...

I also spoted a tree that is partially washed out at the root base .. how can i snipe thatwhent he shovel does not fit in there and i dont have a suction dredge..

Thanks again for all your help..

Axgar

 

[nebraskadad]

Ax,

Check the inner bends and at the highwater marks as well ..

Is there any bed rock? if so try and snipe the bedrock cracks..

 

[Axgar]

NE dad
well the whole area is covered with small to medium coble stones / river rock .. ( what i do is move the bigger rocks carefully with a shovel and then make a mini dam .. then dig down and classify .. I dont think that i have hit bed rock cause is is fairly sandy around the rocks

The creek is flooded again with this nor easter that just came through . so i will have to wait till the water goes down again.

Thanks again

Axgar

 

[fanatic]

Axgar - join the GPAA and visit the claims in Ohio. I've been to Swank three times and always found fines without a lot of problem.

There may not be bedrock, but you may find a clay layer instead. The top of the clay holds gold.

 

[Axgar]

That is a good thing to know .. cause i have seen clay down there in the Banks ...now working the clay.. am i looking for anything paticular like i would if i were dredging? or just have at the bank and hope for the best?

Yes i plan to join in 2006, kind of exciting to see what others do here in ohio.

Thanks again

Axgar

 

[Axgar]

it is gonna be about 50 here tommorow... so i am gonna get out and dig some sand in some of the off shoots of the creeks and run it through the sluice... Here for hoping and kicking the cabin fevers butt !!

the water is up to flood stage and moving fast so this shouled be very interesting in the spring.

Axgar

 

[Axgar]

i braved the conditions for a few hours and found a few flakes sniping around the tree stumps and off shoots with my homemade suction tube... it worked quite well but the lube/ oil i used was water based and did a hydro lock on teh suction after about 30 suctions...

but over all worked a bit and thatwas good..

Axgar

 

[fanatic]

Ax - use a silicon spray that IS NOT oil based. Oil will create surface tension on the water and you risk losing your fines. They'll float right to the top.

 

[Axgar]

will any silicon spray work??

i think i need bigger / thicker O rings...the ones i have now are about 1/8 thick ... i would like 1/2 inch for more surface contact ... but that is just a trial ..

Thanks for the tip fanatic

Axgar