Help with prospecting.

[pityocamptes]

Found an area a while back (hard to get to) and ran a metal detector (garret gold stinger) over it. The whole area was hot which could be seen by the rusty quartz and redish/black rocks everywhere. All on surface. The wash we were in, before it dumped into a larger one, had about an 8 foot wall on one side (looks like it was cut out by rain) while the other side was sloped up towards a hill. On this "wall" I ran the metal detector and had several areas that were "hot" (MD responded to the whole thing but a few areas had a cleaner sound). Anyway, when we were back there it had not rained yet so panning was out. Decided to fill a one gallon jug with dirt and pan it when we got home. Panned it a few days later and found some nice color, small flakes. I was wondering how would an individual "trace" this back to a vein or pocket? The whole area is very mineralized and I can only dream of the problems I would have using the MD. Any advice, thoughts? Old spanish diaries I have read indicate that this area had placer deposits that were worked. One area looks like it may have been mined but I have not panned this or taken samples as it does not look as mineralized as the other area I mentioned (which is in the vicinity but not really down hill from this) but it looks like a mix of different types of rock and sort of sticks out of the ground like the rocks you see in monument valley (one side of this rock has a large cave - maybe human dug?) . Some parts of this rock are soft and can be hammered very easy while other sections almost look volcanic and other parts look like granite. Very weird formation. Thinking about getting a portable dry washer but the rains should be here soon so maybe I'll wait 'till then.

 

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[IronMike]

My Minelab GPX would love this place. The nastier the ground, the more it likes it. Other than that, you just keep on going up hill sampeling. Dry washer is a good idea but a big pain. Good luck.
Micheal

 

[pityocamptes]

My Minelab GPX would love this place. The nastier the ground, the more it likes it. Other than that, you just keep on going up hill sampeling. Dry washer is a good idea but a big pain. Good luck.
Micheal

Thanks. I was wondering what others do that live in the desert environment. Since there are no flowing rivers (or at least they do not flow that long in monsoon weather) and the rains only muddy up or at most dampen the soil what are my choices for prospecting? I hate to just stick with the MD but the area I go has no roads and requires a 2hr hike back in some nasty canyons. Not very reasonable to take a drywasher or highbanker as that would be too much weight. Any ideas? Any devices for wet/damp soil? Thanks again.

 

[dave wiseman]

hi,keep taking samples,from different spots on the vein and crush up the rock,dig on the area that shows the most.you will need a single jack and some steels or longer chisels.dig out the foot wall or hanging wall,whatever is easier.try and pan your samples in a tub with ahopper pan on top and the usual metal pan underneath.get a plastic scrub brush and brush all clay and dirt off the quartz into your pan and check the quartz carefully for highgrade,put rocks aside and rub smaller stuff really well.then pan out.any color coming out of a quartz vein is a great sign,dosent mean youll get rich,but you might hit a good pocket.if you keep finding gold in that spot,dig down or in or back wherever it keeps showing.this will involve some work,such as breaking out the walls of the vein and lots of persistence.any ,you can e-mail me and I'll share what I know which may not be expert advice,but will help,also can suggest some reading materials. good luck,dave in the motherlode,[email protected]