How Did Miners Know Where to Dig?

[IndianaHolmes]

Been doing some detecting around old placer mines lately. Wondering why/how miners chose to dig pits in some spots and not others. Sometimes a placer mine will only have 3-5 pits. Other times there are 20 or 30 scattered around. What signs did they look for that said "dig here?"

Obviously some pits and trenches are dug at the site of a gold bearing outcropping. But what about the pits scattered around the banks of a creek (for instance?) Did they just dig pits at random? Did they only dig where they happened to stumble across big ol nuggets on the surface? Did they do endless soil sampling/panning and dig wherever they found specks?

Just to clarify, I'm not asking about what would bring miners to a particular region (ie: geology, faults, panning samples, etc...) I'm asking what would cause them to dig any particular pit within the area of interest.

Cheers

 

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[Assembler]

Chris Ralph has a EXCELENT book out called, Fists Full of Gold $29.95 and it's got the answer's people need to read about if they don't know where to dig while they are out prospecting! Get yours's autographed while your at it ! I did !

Yep good stuff in there:-)

 

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[Dejure]

An associate made/makes his living telling people where to locate gold. He lived far more comfortable than did I, so he must have been good at it.

The last I saw him was about forty years ago, so I don't remember but a few of the details he told me. Basically, it was about reading the land. A lot of it was geology. He pondered things like, water flow from ancient and yearly run offs, floods, bends in streams, the type of rock in the area. . . .

 

[January]

I'm in NC, using a Gold Monster 1,000.

Where at in NC? I'm in the center

 

[VisaliaCa]

You ARE on the internet. Why bother getting some strangers opinion and not do the research to find out the answers yourself. They are out there and just waiting for you to read.
A prospector might do all that you mentioned and more and maybe less based on the type of ore they are looking for, etc.
Xracer550's reply is correct. Don't shoot the messenger.

YoU are on the internet, you do realize that it's made out of strangers opinions right? Are you just trolling him for being curious? Maybe he already looked and couldn't find a definitive answer. Or maybe he's just seeking confirmation to gauge if the conclusion he came to matches....

 

[xr7ator]

YoU are on the internet, you do realize that it's made out of strangers opinions right? Are you just trolling him for being curious? Maybe he already looked and couldn't find a definitive answer. Or maybe he's just seeking confirmation to gauge if the conclusion he came to matches....

The thread has been cleaned by the moderator and my reply is now out of context as I was referring to a post that was just above mine where a poster replied with a legit answer and the thread starter got out of line and/or upset.
I agree. I should have kept my mouth shut, however, the moderator didn't feel the need to remove my reply like he did many others. I will also include that the moderator also agreed that the reply was a legit reply and the thread starter was out of line. The moderator's posts have been removed as well.
Next time if I feel the need, I'll notify the moderator instead of posting.
HH ALL

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

The thread has been cleaned by the moderator and my reply is now out of context as I was referring to a post that was just above mine where a poster replied with a legit answer and the thread starter got out of line and/or upset.
I agree. I should have kept my mouth shut, however, the moderator didn't feel the need to remove my reply like he did many others. I will also include that the moderator also agreed that the reply was a legit reply and the thread starter was out of line. The moderator's posts have been removed as well.
Next time if I feel the need, I'll notify the moderator instead of posting.
HH ALL

IndianaHolmes (IH) started the problem when he insulted member who gave a legitimate answer to his question.

Xr7ator, I left your reply because it didn't violate rules and your reply was directed at IH's attack on xracer.