FOUND MY FIRST GOLD!!! (I think...)

[npaquette42]

So I found my first 2 flakes of gold! 1 is flat, about the size of a grain of sand and the other is 3 times that size and flat as well. I am pretty sure they are gold as they "shine" even out of direct sunlight and when I swirl water around in the pan they are like "magnetized" to the bottom of the pan while everything else moves around. Is my assumption correct that this is gold? I am panning in ME and if it is, in fact, gold then I feel like I may be onto something. From what I've read that seems to be pretty good size for this area (western ME) and I pulled these 2 flakes from 3/4 of a bucket of classified material, -4. I feel like this is also pretty rich for this area. Would someone mind clarifying for me? I'm pretty excited right now...

 

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[npaquette42]

AND the garnets are getting bigger too!

 

[KevinInColorado]

That sounds like the real deal, congrats!

Can you post a picture?

 

[Sackett]

One thing that I can say is this..It is hard to describe HOW gold looks, BUT it's like this----YOU WILL KNOW IT WHEN YOU SEE IT! Nothing else looks like a true flake of gold...BEWARE gold WILL move around in your pan if water is moved too fast, so just because it moves DON'T disregard it totally, if it LOOKS like gold, it is GOLD!

 

[Aufisher]

Welcome to the fever!

 

[okla. prospector]

We would love to see pics. Sounds like you found a new hobby.congrats

 

[npaquette42]

I did the best I could with the pics and maybe they're not as big as I remember

 

[B H Prospector]

Looks like the real deal. Congrates!

 

[KevinInColorado]

Yup, you win!


If you soak those flakes in vinegar they may come out a cleaner golden color.

 

[DizzyDigger]

That be the good stuff...

 

[GrizzlyGremlin]

Thats what your looking for! I remember my first gold. Super exciting! Time to sluice up and run hella buckets. Get em

 

[npaquette42]

Yup, really stoked! I am still wondering what you guys think of the size and quantity though. I also went and got more material from the same hole that I dug that out of. Ill let you know how it turns out. I am very thankful for any info you guys can give and I have learned so much from this forum, keep up the great work!

 

[B H Prospector]

The size is pretty common to what most of us find. Flour gold is much more common than nuggets and pickers. Flour gold is what pays the bills. Can't really coment on amount vs material ran. If you just got started the good stuff is going to be deeper. Run a dozen or so full buckets and see what you get. That will be a better indicater. Welcome to the net and again congrats on first gold.

Good Luck!

BH Prospector

 

[npaquette42]

This is my take from my first 3 buckets including my first couple of flakes. I had a nice hole goin and then we some heavy rain and it filled back in. I dug it down to the level I was at previously and panned most of and NOTHIN! There was considerably less garnets and black sand. My hole was above the normal water line of the river behind a large boulder. Any ideas?

 

[DizzyDigger]

For three buckets of material that's probably not a bad start, but
I suspect there's more to be found in that same area.

If you're working a hole on a bench above the normal water line, it
could well be that it is what we call float (or flood) gold, and while the
flakes are typically very thin, they collect in the upper few inches of the
material on top. Could well be you dug deeper than that gold has settled.

First thing I might try is picking a spot on the inside bend of the creek where
the sandbar has built up, and then sample a bucket of material from the top
8". Classify to 8 mesh (1/8") and then pan it down (or sluice..whatever ya got)
and see how that comes out.

Here's a good video (from Doc) that shows in much better detail where that
gold may lie in the creeks:



Flood gold is very light, but still much heavier than the comparable sized material
it's mixed with, and the best concentrations are typically found in a "paystreak"
that runs through that inner creek bend. Key is in finding that streak where the
currents have concentrated more of that material on the bar.

You're doing great, and your panning skills will continue to improve the more
you do it.

 

[npaquette42]

Great video man! Thank you very much. The lesson I learned is that when I find a spot with good gold, call outta work the next day and get as much material as I can! I am really excited about what I found. One of those pieces is a mini nugget that goes "tink" and bounces around when you drop it on the table. I'm in northern NH and I've only been panning about 2 weeks. After a week and a half I found this spot that I'm gonna work it for a long time. I really appreciate the response. Great tips!

 

[KevinInColorado]

Ps by 'sandbar', he means cobble bar. The more rocks mixed in, the better! I say "gold hides where it's hard to dig!"

 

[npaquette42]

There aren't many cobble bars that I have seen but I only looked quick. I ran over there to get some samples on my lunch break. The river is all boulders. I took one sample, half a bucket -4, from just above the water line behind a boulder where the material on top was pretty much solid pink sand. Pretty excited to pan it!

 

[ivan salis]

looks like winner , winner chicken dinner.