First post, and how I found gold where it hasn’t been recorded before

[SlateBelter]

Hi all, I’m SlateBelter from, you guessed it, the greater Carolina slate belt region. I’ve been interested in geology my whole life and have been fortunate to collect specimens from across the USA and Canada. I recently came across Jeff Williams on YouTube and have really enjoyed learning about mineral deposition. Of course he does lots of theatrics, but mixed in he drops nuggets of info on deposition, sedimentation, weathering and lots more. I started reading the USGS reports for my region and using mylandmatters.com to explore the geology of the slate belt. I knew gold was mined here long ago, but now I’ve learned a lot about the host rock and what other minerals tend to be found along with it. This has really taken me back to my into to geology course in college that I enjoyed so much, and makes me wish I had gone that path with my career.





Anyway, I live in a county that doesn’t actually have any record of gold production. Non of the historic maps show mines here, and generally USGS maps show this being a sedimentary region. To be clear I’m not on the slate belt, just nearby. I do a lot of hiking though, and there are a couple creeks I know have sizable quarts chunks as well as granite here and there. Bedrock is fairly shallow too and will sometimes get exposed after a flood.

I checked out the geologic map and saw that one creek basically follows the border between “meta-argylite” and sandstone, with the metamorphic rock being a steep hillside. I figured it was a long shot, but also, why not buy a gold pan and go check out the creek? I’m lucky that it is public land which doesn’t have any rules against prospecting or removing minerals (I know, shocking for an east coast state, but I did a lot of reading and am sure). So I got out there a month back and basically just sampled under rocks at the head of gravel different gravel bars until, boom! I found gold. Tiny stuff at first, but when I returned and dug a bit deeper I got into some nice flakes. Every pan from this bar has gold so far, but man it is HARD work to move the rock to get to the concentrated gold about 8 inches down. I’m seeing lots of quartz, granite pebbles, something that looks like a coarse sort of breccia, what I think is epidote, and I think some hematite.

I need to get a ceramic streak plate and bring some rocks home to confirm what’s actually out there. I’ve also come across meta-rocks that have weathered quartz crystals attached, which to me seems like a possible site of gold deposition long ago. Anyway, here are some pictures of the creek, its bank structure, the rocks and gravel I am seeing, and some of the first gold I collected.

5 Super Sluice pan runs yielded this

Next step is to try to locate where this gold came from, and some higher concentrations, but upstream is private property, so I may just have to be content where I am. Thanks for reading!

 

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[mjb Mike]

very cool info I've often wondered if there is any around here i no nothing about it.I watch gold mine on tv alot thats the extent of my knowledge about mining for gold

 

[SlateBelter]

very cool info I've often wondered if there is any around here i no nothing about it.I watch gold mine on tv alot thats the extent of my knowledge about mining for gold

If you follow the formula I did above, it would be easy to see if there are any obvious spots to look!

 

[$MELTER-1]

Hi all, I’m SlateBelter from, you guessed it, the greater Carolina slate belt region. I’ve been interested in geology my whole life and have been fortunate to collect specimens from across the USA and Canada. I recently came across Jeff Williams on YouTube and have really enjoyed learning about mineral deposition. Of course he does lots of theatrics, but mixed in he drops nuggets of info on deposition, sedimentation, weathering and lots more. I started reading the USGS reports for my region and using mylandmatters.com to explore the geology of the slate belt. I knew gold was mined here long ago, but now I’ve learned a lot about the host rock and what other minerals tend to be found along with it. This has really taken me back to my into to geology course in college that I enjoyed so much, and makes me wish I had gone that path with my career.





Anyway, I live in a county that doesn’t actually have any record of gold production. Non of the historic maps show mines here, and generally USGS maps show this being a sedimentary region. To be clear I’m not on the slate belt, just nearby. I do a lot of hiking though, and there are a couple creeks I know have sizable quarts chunks as well as granite here and there. Bedrock is fairly shallow too and will sometimes get exposed after a flood.
View attachment 2163479 I checked out the geologic map and saw that one creek basically follows the border between “meta-argylite” and sandstone, with the metamorphic rock being a steep hillside. I figured it was a long shot, but also, why not buy a gold pan and go check out the creek? I’m lucky that it is public land which doesn’t have any rules against prospecting or removing minerals (I know, shocking for an east coast state, but I did a lot of reading and am sure). So I got out there a month back and basically just sampled under rocks at the head of gravel different gravel bars until, boom! I found gold. Tiny stuff at first, but when I returned and dug a bit deeper I got into some nice flakes. Every pan from this bar has gold so far, but man it is HARD work to move the rock to get to the concentrated gold about 8 inches down. I’m seeing lots of quartz, granite pebbles, something that looks like a coarse sort of breccia, what I think is epidote, and I think some hematite.View attachment 2163480
View attachment 2163481
I need to get a ceramic streak plate and bring some rocks home to confirm what’s actually out there. I’ve also come across meta-rocks that have weathered quartz crystals attached, which to me seems like a possible site of gold deposition long ago. Anyway, here are some pictures of the creek, its bank structure, the rocks and gravel I am seeing, and some of the first gold I collected. View attachment 2163482
View attachment 2163483
View attachment 2163485
5 Super Sluice pan runs yielded this View attachment 2163486
Next step is to try to locate where this gold came from, and some higher concentrations, but upstream is private property, so I may just have to be content where I am. Thanks for reading!

Get you a pinch bar to move big heavy rocks,they are heavy but one man can move a few thousand pounds with one.we used them on offshore production platforms when moving skids into position to be welded down.

 

[SlateBelter]

Get you a pinch bar to move big heavy rocks,they are heavy but one man can move a few thousand pounds with one.we used them on offshore production platforms when moving skids into position to be welded down.

It’s tempting, but my biggest concern for this spot is somebody with a stick up their @$$ complaining to the land managers about me messing up the creek, and the access laws getting changed. I encounter people every time I’m out there, and they’ve been cool so far, but all it takes is one Karen from the city to ruin things. I’m trying to keep this low profile.

 

[$MELTER-1]

It’s tempting, but my biggest concern for this spot is somebody with a stick up their @$$ complaining to the land managers about me messing up the creek, and the access laws getting changed. I encounter people every time I’m out there, and they’ve been cool so far, but all it takes is one Karen from the city to ruin things. I’m trying to keep this low profile.

Maybe a boom box playing some grizzly bear fights all the way up lol,I know when I was out west n heard them even when I was toting my 44 mag I made puttin some distance top priority or just go at night

 

[$MELTER-1]

Hi all, I’m SlateBelter from, you guessed it, the greater Carolina slate belt region. I’ve been interested in geology my whole life and have been fortunate to collect specimens from across the USA and Canada. I recently came across Jeff Williams on YouTube and have really enjoyed learning about mineral deposition. Of course he does lots of theatrics, but mixed in he drops nuggets of info on deposition, sedimentation, weathering and lots more. I started reading the USGS reports for my region and using mylandmatters.com to explore the geology of the slate belt. I knew gold was mined here long ago, but now I’ve learned a lot about the host rock and what other minerals tend to be found along with it. This has really taken me back to my into to geology course in college that I enjoyed so much, and makes me wish I had gone that path with my career.





Anyway, I live in a county that doesn’t actually have any record of gold production. Non of the historic maps show mines here, and generally USGS maps show this being a sedimentary region. To be clear I’m not on the slate belt, just nearby. I do a lot of hiking though, and there are a couple creeks I know have sizable quarts chunks as well as granite here and there. Bedrock is fairly shallow too and will sometimes get exposed after a flood.
View attachment 2163479 I checked out the geologic map and saw that one creek basically follows the border between “meta-argylite” and sandstone, with the metamorphic rock being a steep hillside. I figured it was a long shot, but also, why not buy a gold pan and go check out the creek? I’m lucky that it is public land which doesn’t have any rules against prospecting or removing minerals (I know, shocking for an east coast state, but I did a lot of reading and am sure). So I got out there a month back and basically just sampled under rocks at the head of gravel different gravel bars until, boom! I found gold. Tiny stuff at first, but when I returned and dug a bit deeper I got into some nice flakes. Every pan from this bar has gold so far, but man it is HARD work to move the rock to get to the concentrated gold about 8 inches down. I’m seeing lots of quartz, granite pebbles, something that looks like a coarse sort of breccia, what I think is epidote, and I think some hematite.View attachment 2163480
View attachment 2163481
I need to get a ceramic streak plate and bring some rocks home to confirm what’s actually out there. I’ve also come across meta-rocks that have weathered quartz crystals attached, which to me seems like a possible site of gold deposition long ago. Anyway, here are some pictures of the creek, its bank structure, the rocks and gravel I am seeing, and some of the first gold I collected. View attachment 2163482
View attachment 2163483
View attachment 2163485
5 Super Sluice pan runs yielded this View attachment 2163486
Next step is to try to locate where this gold came from, and some higher concentrations, but upstream is private property, so I may just have to be content where I am. Thanks for reading!

All the glaciers are melting,I saw a before n after 15 year somebody that lives by one and when I saw it and how much it used to cover I thought of there was gold there well you never know and with everything melting there may just be boo coo gold to be found. Probably shouldn't have said that I don't want to be responsible for another gold rush unless of course I can get me some too lol.