Black Sands a plenty

[Peeka]

First time out prospecting today and really have no idea what I'm doing, but we did find what i guess is a lot of black sand after running 1 - 5 gallon bucket. Problem is after panning what we kept from the sluice I can't seem to find any gold

We went up into the National forest above Coeur d' Alene & had a blast, but my 6 year old little girl would really like to see gold. We picked the end of a sandbar on an inside turn,

Can't seem to find any bedrock around there so we just started looking for what I thought I learned on here with the inside of turns in the river or am I looking for the wrong thing

Any help/ideas would be greatly appreciated and we are using the expedition Angus Mackirk sluice.

Anyone know of any clubs with claims around this area? Spokane, Coeur D Alene

 

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[Jason in Enid]

Black sand is a good indicator that gold COULD be there too, but it's not a guarantee. Before you decide there is zero gold, you need to make sure you know how to pan. Rule #1 for panning is to classify all the large stuff out. A simple kitchen mesh colander will work for now. The big stuff is easy to look though for chunky gold. Look up some Youtube videos on how to pan if you aren't 100% in how to do it correctly.

 

[vpnavy]

1st - I noticed this is your very first post. So, welcome aboard from the great state of Pennsylvania (USA).

2nd - You didn't mention your state (or country) - but you might consider jumping over to Sub-Forums: Select Your Area.... and selecting your state for information (i.e., clubs, hunts, finds, legends, maps, etc.) directly related to your state (or country).

3rd - You might consider browsing Forum > Gold Prospecting > Sluicing

 

[kuger]

You dont have near enough water flow going through your sluice,you should see little rocks dancing behind the riffles and shouldnt be retaining those light colored stones.Post in the Sluicing section here and have fun,you are already in the "win",with the time spent with the kids!!!

 

[Peeka]

Thanks for the help guys, will be trying more water, better panning (maybe a blue bowl for fun) and maybe a new spot.

We are in Spokane County in Washington State vpnavy and thx for the welcome aboard although I never did get comfortable on a Navy ship (former Marine).

Kuger we had wayyyy more water going through today and everything was dancing like crazy, but still left a ton of those light colored stones. Not sure why.

Thanks for the help Jason, and I'm not even 50% sure I know how to pan right. You can bet I'll be spending more time on the Youtube videos. From what i understand it seems most of the gold in our area is flour size and that seems pretty tough to even think about panning.

On a bright note I went and re-panned the concentrate and found 1 very small piece of GOLD! My 6 year old replied " hey dad, what do you know there is gold in them there hills", lol. It's in a glass vial and looks pretty sweet in the sun. People on here ask people if they have gold or not and many reply you'll know it when you see it. They are RIGHT, it is hard to miss compared to everything else in a pan. Amazed how different it acts.

 

[Hunter397]

I just caught the gold fever these last few months. Living a little south of cda about 15 miles. I've been panning little creeks and streams here And have turned up nothing! I seem to get black sands all day an no gold. Lots of mica. I guess I'm just looking for a direction or stream to start on to get pointed in the right direction. Haha

 

[DizzyDigger]

Welcome to the site Peeka...

There are sure to be a few clubs in the greater Spokane area, plus a
bit of research will show you the best creeks/streams. Not sure how far
you want to drive, but check out the history of Liberty (WA), and there's
good ground over towards the Eastern slope of the Cascades.

I'm just off Hwy. 20 over the N. Cascades route (soon to be closed
for the winter), so don't know many of the watershed areas near you,
but I'd bet someone will chine in soon from the Spokane area.

Hopefully a Mod will see this thread and move it over to the Gold
Prospecting Forum, as there many more prospectors will have a
chance to add their input.

 

[Target]

Read through your post and all you need to do is Google Eagle City Mining Club, Murray, ID! It's just under an hour from where you are! There are meetings outings and gold to be found! I have been a member there for 6years now! Go where gold has been found! Good Luck!

 

[G-bone]

Welcome Peeka.
I too am new at this and am like a little kid again.
But I have yet to see color and looking forward to my first flake.
I'm going to the GPAA show that is in my area and I'm going to the Panning toughs and get actual feed back on if and what I'm doing wrong or right at panning.
I gotta be careful not to get to ahead of myself and over think things and working hard to get out there more with the kids as well.
And Kuger had it right with winning and time with the kids.

cheers

G

Keep it up and don't let a few skunked outtings slow you down.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Enjoy the show but don't let the vendors trick you into buying expensive gear you don't need, especially at this early stage in the adventure.

 

[Gelmac]

Yes, black sand is frustrating at first but you'll find the yella ! panning -as any other craft- is a learning experience jut take more time and learn from the videos or better yet joining a club in your area is a very good start as fellow members has suggested above. Good luck !