Is anyone still looking for gold in Western New York?

[Butcher78]

I Just recently started panning and sluicing for gold here in Springville, NY.
If anyone in the area is still prospecting pls share here. I would love to see what is being found, how your finding it, where you are looking and how much you have found.
I am running a Royal Manufacturing 30” sluice box. I’m still learning how to pan and I want to start crevicing for gold if I can find some exposed bedrock in my area.

 

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[Terry Soloman]

You are wasting your time. You'll never find enough glacial gold to pay for gasoline, let alone a sluice. Gold prospecting in New York is a cruel joke. Go to Connecticut or Vermont, if you can't afford to go out west.

 

[smokeythecat]

There is a small bit in eastern NY, near the Vermont border. Where you are the only gold to be had would be alluvial gold from melted glaciers.

 

[Butcher78]

You are wasting your time. You'll never find enough glacial gold to pay for gasoline, let alone a sluice. Gold prospecting in New York is a cruel joke. Go to Connecticut or Vermont, if you can't afford to go out west.

Thank you Terry for being a Debby Downer. I will keep looking not because I expect to get rich or in your words pay for gas..... but because I enjoy the hunt. It’s a hobby for me. Something to get me off my butt and be a little more active. I have done my research and I know that all that is around my area is glacial deposits. If fact sense I started I have run about 6 buckets of material I classified down to 1/4 in. Being new I’m sure I lost anything worth finding except 2 small flakes, and today I cleaned out my buckets and found 40 micro pieces in just the first half of my pan. I need a better way to collect the micro pieces.
I’m not going to quit looking and I know their are more people out here in WNY that feel the same. So ty for your opinion, but I will continue to look, and if I get the chance to visit another state that has better Gold... I will have my pan and sluice box ready.

 

[Butcher78]

There is a small bit in eastern NY, near the Vermont border. Where you are the only gold to be had would be alluvial gold from melted glaciers.

Smoky, I do want to make plans to visit the Vermont Border. What I have read is that some people have found small quartz vanes near their. The end of the Appalachian Mountains Chain runs up through that area. People have even found gold in NYC.

 

[Terry Soloman]

Thank you Terry for being a Debby Downer. I will keep looking not because I expect to get rich or in your words pay for gas..... but because I enjoy the hunt. It’s a hobby for me. Something to get me off my butt and be a little more active. I have done my research and I know that all that is around my area is glacial deposits. If fact sense I started I have run about 6 buckets of material I classified down to 1/4 in. Being new I’m sure I lost anything worth finding except 2 small flakes, and today I cleaned out my buckets and found 40 micro pieces in just the first half of my pan. I need a better way to collect the micro pieces.
I’m not going to quit looking and I know their are more people out here in WNY that feel the same. So ty for your opinion, but I will continue to look, and if I get the chance to visit another state that has better Gold... I will have my pan and sluice box ready.

Sorry for being a downer Butcher. Just trying to save you a little time and money. If you ever decide to get serious get in touch and I'll hook you up with some claims you can pound in Arizona.

 

[Butcher78]

Sorry for being a downer Butcher. Just trying to save you a little time and money. If you ever decide to get serious get in touch and I'll hook you up with some claims you can pound in Arizona.

It’s all good. I would love to go to AZ. Right now that is not possible. I came back to NY for 2 reasons, my wife wanted to be close to her mother and NYS has the best education system in the country. My kids range in age from 2-8, so those plans are put on hold... lol I wish I could take prospecting more serious but for now it’s just a hoby and I have to take what I can get.

 

[63bkpkr]

Butcher78,
Welcome to TNET! With the understanding of your Life Details it is pretty easy to agree with your plan. I would think this means that while the young ones are getting a good education you need to pick one up as well, prospecting wise that is (though a good education in the field of your preferred work is always a good thing as well).

I do not understand Squat about Glacial Deposits though as I recall in Lanny's "Metal Detecting for Gold" 'Text Book' of a thread there are several things about locating the yellow metal from Glacial Activity. Seems that at times Glaciers do some Unique things, like burping out a big jet of "the good stuff" under certain conditions. If you haven't yet I would suggest you read Lanny's Thread as the Info there should be helpful to you.

To me, it sounds like your work will be Sleuthing out the details from US Geological Studies of areas and then boots on the ground sampling. The sampling should include sitting on a mountainside and actually seeing what is all around you. At times the 'lay of the land' can give clues as to where "the good stuff" is.

Simple equipment should be all you need for awhile: shovel, sifter, gold pan, snuffer bottle, sample bottles, small pack to carry your 'tools', a good lunch, water, insect repellent & protection from the rain/sun/bugs and of course TP.

Be sure to enjoy your time out there and remember to Not be a Gold Prospecting Snob (check the places that do not look 'right')..............63bkpkr. [some words and phrases plagiarized from Lanny & the movie "Silverado"]

 

[Butcher78]

Butcher78,
Welcome to TNET! With the understanding of your Life Details it is pretty easy to agree with your plan. I would think this means that while the young ones are getting a good education you need to pick one up as well, prospecting wise that is (though a good education in the field of your preferred work is always a good thing as well).

I do not understand Squat about Glacial Deposits though as I recall in Lanny's "Metal Detecting for Gold" 'Text Book' of a thread there are several things about locating the yellow metal from Glacial Activity. Seems that at times Glaciers do some Unique things, like burping out a big jet of "the good stuff" under certain conditions. If you haven't yet I would suggest you read Lanny's Thread as the Info there should be helpful to you.

To me, it sounds like your work will be Sleuthing out the details from US Geological Studies of areas and then boots on the ground sampling. The sampling should include sitting on a mountainside and actually seeing what is all around you. At times the 'lay of the land' can give clues as to where "the good stuff" is.

Simple equipment should be all you need for awhile: shovel, sifter, gold pan, snuffer bottle, sample bottles, small pack to carry your 'tools', a good lunch, water, insect repellent & protection from the rain/sun/bugs and of course TP.

Be sure to enjoy your time out there and remember to Not be a Gold Prospecting Snob (check the places that do not look 'right')..............63bkpkr. [some words and phrases plagiarized from Lanny & the movie "Silverado"]

I have done a bit of research with what is available for NYS. Not a lot is out their because of the law in NY. Not many want to document their finds in fear that the state will take it from them.
That being said I have an overlapping map showing where the glacier that covered NYS ended on the 3 pushes it made through the state. One being about right where I live. Proof that it is correct lyes in the state parks where massive builders pushed by the glaciers ended up. My map overlaps these state parks.
I know where to go to look for the best deposits... I just don’t have permission to. So ya I think I’m pretty well educated about my area and what is available to me at this time. As stated before it’s just a hobby for me. Kinda like fishing for some folks. You go out for hrs on end, cast your line and wait for a bite. No guarantees. I’m off my butt, outside enjoying nature, spending time with my kids when the help. And I’m learning more everyday by doing.

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

Being from a western state, eastern glacier gold mining always fascinates me. The amount of gold recovered compared to the necessary effort seems ridiculous. Don't take that as an insult. Your reward is similiar to mine...minus the gold.

Terry's offer is a good one, however it would probably ruin your NYS prospecting adventures forever.

I say keep up your hobby and enjoy your time outdoors with your family.,

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

A suggestion, in all seriousness..I would consider taking some of your micro flakes to someone who can take very high magnificated photos. Small gold is just as good looking as big gold, we just can't see it.

I once dropped off a gram of small gold for a guy to photograph. Never saw the photos or the gold.

I'm not sure how to locate someone who would be equipped to do those types of photos, but it would be a cool thing to blow up the photo and mount it with the flake in a frame somehow.

100x of flour gold.

 

[Butcher78]

A suggestion, in all seriousness..I would consider taking some of your micro flakes to someone who can take very high magnificated photos. Small gold is just as good looking as big gold, we just can't see it.

I once dropped off a gram of small gold for a guy to photograph. Never saw the photos or the gold.

I'm not sure how to locate someone who would be equipped to do those types of photos, but it would be a cool thing to blow up the photo and mount it with the flake in a frame somehow.

100x of flour gold.

View attachment 1714116

That’s not a bad idea. I’m sorry you lost some gold, seems like people are harder to trust now days. I might follow a video on YouTube on how to recover micro gold from your black sand. This guy shows you how to build your own table and it looks simple enough to build.



Also I’ve seen simple ways to smelt your gold at home for little to no money depending on what you already own.



This method may not work with flower gold or micro gold because you may just end up blowing all your gold out before it has a chance to melt.

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

I don't find much fine/flour gold..and what I do find doesn't get melted.
It has a higher value as flour gold than it does a mystery lump of gold.

I did melt some ugly gold that I recovered from crushed ore. It's just an tiny little pill the size of a piece of "Good and Plenty" candy.

 

[Butcher78]

He is a couple pictures from what I found. It shows only a few flakes of micro gold. I need a better way to clean it up. Lol

 

[smokeythecat]

I have one of those big blue gold wheels. They work really well. Maybe this summer we'll hit my creek. The vein, at least one of them is under my house. We found a couple small, very small nuggets and some flakes and fines. But there is a quadzillion gallons of black sands, lots of ilmenite, rutile, magnetite, plus some minor zircons and garnets. It's fun, but it's an enormous amount of work. It is not an economic deposit and there is native silver here too, mixed with the gold.

Yes, you are getting alluvial gold there. There is also gold a lot of places along both the Hudson River valleys and Delaware River valleys. I even have 2 micros of gold from the zinc mines at Franklin, NJ. It came up from the depths with the zinc and iron ores.

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

Buy yourself a gold snuffer bottle. Then learn to backwash and tap the gold up the pan.
Many times I will backwash then tap the gold up, let the gravel drain, then pan out some of the light material at the bottom, then start over.

Hard to explain..easy to show.

 

[Butcher78]

Buy yourself a gold snuffer bottle. Then learn to backwash and tap the gold up the pan.
Many times I will backwash then tap the gold up, let the gravel drain, then pan out some of the light material at the bottom, then start over.

Hard to explain..easy to show.

I think I know what your saying. Lol I definitely need to learn panning better.
For shits and giggles I bought a bag of play sand from Lowe's. I here it could have some trace amounts of gold in it. If it does or not I'll have lots of practice.

 

[arizau]

View attachment 1714408 View attachment 1714407

He is a couple pictures from what I found. It shows only a few flakes of micro gold. I need a better way to clean it up. Lol

You can get rid of the bubble in your vial if you submerge and cap it under water....makes for a better display.

Good luck.

 

[Butcher78]

So I decided to run this Lowe's Play sand through my Sluice box just to see if I could find anything. And to my surprise I was actually seeing the micro gold in the dirt as I was scooping it into the Sluice. When I was done and did my clean out I classified the concentrate with a kitchen strainer and actually found a small clump of concrete. After that I was dumping out the excess water in the pan and seen gold so fine it was catching a ride with the silt trying to escape my pan. I knew I had to be careful not to loose any and to my surprise the top of the concentrates was littered with micro gold specks and flakes. However I now have about an inch and a half to two inches of this really really fine black sand, magnetite, blond sand and various minerals that is so dense that when I try to stratify the sands the gold will NOT sink to the bottom of the pan. In fact it seems to do the exact opposite and rises to the top of the pan.
I am at a loss here until I find a better solution. Right now I’m working with a 14in pan with big riffles on one side and small ones on the other. So I bought myself a black 10in Gold Rush Gravity Trap gold pan on Amazon.
I’m going to save both the tailings and the concentrates for when I get my new pan. And try panning it a couple tea spoons at a time till I collect all the gold.
If that doesn’t work I will have to build myself a fluid bed.

 

[arizau]

So I decided to run this Lowe's Play sand through my Sluice box just to see if I could find anything. And to my surprise I was actually seeing the micro gold in the dirt as I was scooping it into the Sluice. When I was done and did my clean out I classified the concentrate with a kitchen strainer and actually found a small clump of concrete. After that I was dumping out the excess water in the pan and seen gold so fine it was catching a ride with the silt trying to escape my pan. I knew I had to be careful not to loose any and to my surprise the top of the concentrates was littered with micro gold specks and flakes. However I now have about an inch and a half to two inches of this really really fine black sand, magnetite, blond sand and various minerals that is so dense that when I try to stratify the sands the gold will NOT sink to the bottom of the pan. In fact it seems to do the exact opposite and rises to the top of the pan.
I am at a loss here until I find a better solution. Right now I’m working with a 14in pan with big riffles on one side and small ones on the other. So I bought myself a black 10in Gold Rush Gravity Trap gold pan on Amazon.
I’m going to save both the tailings and the concentrates for when I get my new pan. And try panning it a couple tea spoons at a time till I collect all the gold.
If that doesn’t work I will have to build myself a fluid bed. View attachment 1714769

Tiny flat gold can ride on the surface of the water due to surface tension. A few drops of a surfactant such as dishwasher Jet Dri or even dawn or some other dish soap will break or decrease the surface tension of your panning water causing the gold to sink and settle. Warm water helps too. You are on the right track by panning in small quantities when trying to recover the last little speck of micro gold.

Have you done the proven, pretty much fail safe, visual test on what you see as gold? Gold does not lose it's color when viewed in shaded light. If the gold color disappears in the shaded light then it is most likely not gold but may be mica or some other reflective mineral. Your statement that the "gold" rises to the top is the reason I ask this since that is the way mica particles act in a pan.

Good luck.