Is there accessible Gold in S.W. Ohio?

[CincinnatiKid]

Hello all.
Been doing a bit of research.
In the late 1890s, two gold mines existed in Batavia/Amelia Ohio. Both are now beneath the lake contained within Eastfork State Park.
Both "mines" failed, due to recovery costs relevant to price of gold. Which is surely the case anywhere, even now.
Two streams still lead to area in question. Both are accessible.
Any chance of finding a flake or two?
Thanks
Peace ✌

 

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[Sick4gold]

W

There are kinds of places it can be found. I don't disagree with that. As far as any attempts at a productive mining attempt, I might be wrong, I thought they were all very short lived? You can also find it in coal, But that's another topic. lol Any place I found it, it was with real fine garnet(purple, blue, red) and magnetite and hematite, ground fine. These were in the moraines. Or whatever it's called! lol

All very true statements, the majority of gold here is ground tiny but if your able to get to bedrock or clay bottom then you can find chunky stuff. Check out www.midwestprospector.com. Aside from being a very nice guy and basically writing the bible for midwest hunting hes doing pretty well here.
The problem is that above Columbus the drift thickness is very thick and reaching bottom for the small scale miner is unlikely. Here in the SW of Ohio we have plenty of Moraines and exposed bedrock and some of the oldest exposed around ( ie. Kope formation ).
The gold mines were pretty short lived but any real info as to exact profits and operating costs and durations have been lost to history.

 

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[Nitric]

I have also heard that at the bottom of the Ohio river would be a good place, the problem is you can't get to it. The river V's and the current is moving too fast. I'm not sure how true this is, this is what a diver I met told me about it.

 

[Sick4gold]

Its possible but i dont know what the bottom looks like. Im guessing its too filled with dead bodies and trash to want to do it anyways...
I look for what Doc calls "dead president" gold. Modern Ohio flood gold is tiny, what your after is the stuff that hasnt budged in thousands of years and is locked up tight in hard packed cobble or in cracks on bedrock sheets...again give me a few hours and ill post some more pics

 

[Nitric]

I also have heard of people dredging the central and north eastern parts. The Tuscarawas(spelling?) was one of them. I don't advise this though, you could probably get into some trouble doing this depending.

 

[Gold Maven]

Here's some Ohio Gold from Holmes County.

It's here, but mostly very fine, and widely scattered.

Even a few flakes are fun to find. GL.

 

[Sick4gold]

People dredge all over the state including me. Ohio is pretty relaxed as far as surface mining goes.
As long as your not in a state park or forest youll probably be ok as the rules in Ohio state hobby prospecting is ok as long as your not changing water ways and the disturbance is diminimus. Ohio allows up to a 4 inch dredge nozzle but i know of a few using larger but only on their own property.
If your worried you can ask the ODNR but the will refer you to the Army Corps of Engineers and they will refer you to the EPA which will refer you back to the DNR. It seems that its nobodies responsibility as far as they are concerned.
Ive been stopped once or twice but the cop/ranger was more curious than anything and it was a pleasant experience. That being said if your on state land it would be a different story.

 

[Nitric]

People dredge all over the state including me. Ohio is pretty relaxed as far as surface mining goes.
As long as your not in a state park or forest youll probably be ok as the rules in Ohio state hobby prospecting is ok as long as your not changing water ways and the disturbance is diminimus. Ohio allows up to a 4 inch dredge nozzle but i know of a few using larger but only on their own property.
If your worried you can ask the ODNR but the will refer you to the Army Corps of Engineers and they will refer you to the EPA which will refer you back to the DNR. It seems that its nobodies responsibility as far as they are concerned.
Ive been stopped once or twice but the cop/ranger was more curious than anything and it was a pleasant experience. That being said if your on state land it would be a different story.

No one cares or knows, the rules! lol I tried to figure it out. I came up with the same thing you did. lol Don't change the flow,or reroute the water.....that was about it! Except, state, and federal land....But here within the past couple of years, they took a dam out of a river in Cuyahoga falls. They were threatening to arrest anyone picking up things out where the water was. The people were basically picking up junk that collected there. Nope, not allowed, against the law, they will arrest you!Is what radio and papers were saying. (for guys collecting junk)lol So, I have no Idea.

 

[Sick4gold]

atleast you can see that any advice i give is from personal experience and not armchair prospecting.
You came up with the same result as me when i first started doing this and tried to gain permission.
Fast forward a few years and a hundred creeks and im a little wiser but mother nature still takes me to school every time im out; thats part of the fun.
Take my advice dont take it, believe it, dont believe it i dont care as ill keep pulling out pans like this one and let others keep finding a few specks of fly poop

 

[Sick4gold]

As promised

 

[Nitric]

atleast you can see that any advice i give is from personal experience and not armchair prospecting.
You came up with the same result as me when i first started doing this and tried to gain permission.
Fast forward a few years and a hundred creeks and im a little wiser but mother nature still takes me to school every time im out; thats part of the fun.
Take my advice dont take it, believe it, dont believe it i dont care as ill keep pulling out pans like this one and let others keep finding a few specks of fly poop
View attachment 1091826

In the north eastern part of the state, I followed the same valleys as the sand and gravel pits. One valley runs for miles, sand and gravel pits are following it too. Just something I looked for. Not sure if it was a good idea or not. Just some nonsense I used to get a little closer, than just random digging. I would have loved to be where their wash outs were. I used to haul gravel occasionally and you could see the ground was black under some of the wash plants(from washing river gravel) from the black sands. I can't even guess how deep there pit is. it's deep!

Oh, and when I said no one cares or knows the laws, I meant the people "in charge" that you ask. They just look at you like your insane, and ask "your looking for what? Gold? there's no gold in Ohio." So, I started saying I was looking at glacial sediments. It, didn't sound as insane! Either way, no one even knows the rules, because there hasn't been any problems.

 

[Nugs Bunny]

In Clermont there was 3 mines reguardless of what you read on the internet. I can take you to each, feel free to PM me. I have land access to Kain Run and also Ulrey run and along Elklick run. Im friends with the Weidenbiens who own all of that land
I refered to hard rock mining as a general term as drift mining is similar and is not Placer mining which is whats needed here
Drift mining - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The quartz ball true is a rumor but no one knows either way, however both the GPAA and OSPA both have claims in Belleview and the football was not the only reported occurance of large quartz/gold conglomerates both from Clear Fork Creek.
As far as minerals keep a look out for chunky magnetite/hematite, limestone or dolostone sheets, iron sulfide ( pyrite ) in little cone shapes or chunks, garnets and garnet sand mostly purple, quartz balls and very heavy rounded rock that has turned black from being buried for so long along with round boulders ground flat on 1 side. I have never seen zinc ore here unless ive mistaken it for flakes of Platnium.
Follow your sulfides of iron and youll probably find gold.
If your digging in Till your wasting your time, you need to focus on creeks and rivers as mother nature has classified and worked the till for you over thousands of years, the best creeks are the ones that cut horizontally through major river valleys.
But what do I know about Ohio prospecting? Obviously the internet is far superior to boots on the ground...
View attachment 1091797
Not sure why everything has to be a pissing match?

Perhaps you are the only one pissing in aforementioned contest.

What you assumed was an attempt to discredit your post, was nothing more than I sharing more information.

"In Clermont there was 3 mines reguardless of what you read on the internet" I never disputed those mines existed, I stated there were more than those three and not all in Clermont County. The information I provided from the internet comes from Ohio's DNR Division of Geology newsletter on occurrences of gold in Ohio. It provides some detailed information on several of the old mines including location and yield.

"I refered to hard rock mining as a general term as drift mining is similar and is not Placer mining which is whats needed here" The placer deposits that were mined in Ohio used drift mining techniques and there is a difference between the two. Hard Rock mining is mining that takes place in igneous and metamorphic rock by means of drilling and blasting to extract the ore. Wheras Drift Mining is a term applied to working alluvial deposits by underground methods of mining. The paystreak, varying from 2 to 8 ft (0.6 to 2.4 m), sometimes greater, is reached through an adit or a shallow shaft

"If your digging in Till your wasting your time" I posted the information on the minerals of the Abitibi Greenbelt for the OP. All the material moved by glaciars is known as till, anything not native to Ohio is an erratic. It's important to identify the minerals associated with the AG as many areas that have been glaciated are non productive.

"Obviously the internet is far superior to boots on the ground..." The internet is a great place to find out where to put those boots on the ground. Due to the nature of my employment I travel considerably, I've been all over the State prospecting and sampling from one corner to the other. My problem is finding the time... not the gold.

"atleast you can see that any advice i give is from personal experience and not armchair prospecting." We all have personal experience to share and we all are guilty of armchair prospecting, some might go as far to call it research! Here are some of my armchair adventures at the creek! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO-Bq9Vrkmojyxa57IvvMlg

There doesn't have to be an argument because we don't agree on certain information, and there is no need for the arrogant attitude. I'm posting to help Cincinnati Kid find gold in SW Ohio... not to prove you wrong. The information from the ODNR does not coincide with your knowledge of those old mines, should I have omitted it to spare your feelings? We can all learn from another and expand our knowledge daily, but it takes an open mind.

I actually run a prospecting forum, true there is a lot of research required on my part, however I do have real world experience.

Gnat crap adds up if you find a paystreak.
View attachment 1092013

Gold recovered from a one hour run processing old tailings from behind the pavilions at Swank West.
View attachment 1092032

Gold recovered from the Swank claim using my handmade sluice.
View attachment 1092036

Pickers found at a secret spot off I-71... take the Bellville Exit... that's all I can divulge lol!
View attachment 1092041

I didn't intend on ruffling your feathers, now have some coffee and a look at that report, it's full of useful information.

 

[Nugs Bunny]

There are all kinds of places it can be found. I don't disagree with that. As far as any attempts at a productive mining attempt, I might be wrong, I thought they were all very short lived? You can also find it in coal, But that's another topic. lol Any place I found it, it was with real fine garnet(purple, blue, red) and magnetite and hematite(black sand), ground fine. These were in the moraines.Or water that had run through them. Or whatever it's called! lol

Yes they were all short lived and several scams, there is some info available from ODNR on the subject.

Moraines, kames and eskers, these are all deposits of glacial till, what differentiates them is how they were accumulated and deposited. Terminal moraines generally are more productive.

 

[Sick4gold]

Ill admit i was hasty its just that i have spent years here doing this and know this area well. I dont know much about the northern parts of the state as i eluded but I know every creek here in Warren, Brown, Clermont, Clinton counties and have been in most.
I still believe your missing my point on the hard rock/drift mining but whatever.
I have dug into till and spent time in creeks where you could pick out the layers in the bank of glaciation and sediment buildup and glaciation again ( halls creek in Morrow is an excellent example ) and I firmly maintain that digging in till is a waste of time. There is nothing that can be done to change my mind on that.
I understand your trying to help Cincinnatikid as I am as well. The DNR here doesnt have great info thats available to the public although they know more than you think and still hasnt provided surficial deposit maps for Brown county which I believe is THE MAP TO USE besides topo maps
Please accept my apology for being defensive but felt it was an attack on the time ive put in by someone that didnt really know. Hopefully we can help others and learn along the way ourselves.
If you PM me ill gladly share more info as to names, land owners and places as I dont want to post it in an open forum.

 

[Sick4gold]

Yes they were all short lived and several scams, there is some info available from ODNR on the subject.

Moraines, kames and eskers, these are all deposits of glacial till, what differentiates them is how they were accumulated and deposited. Terminal moraines generally are more productive.

I totally agree and will add Illinoin pays better than Wisconsinan in my experience.

 

[Nitric]

Here, I'll throw another mess in here! lol

Deep in northern part of the state. Could hold gold in the rock. way, way down. But we can't get to it. I don't remember the details, it has been so long since I read about it. Something about, before the glaciers came through and did their thing. It was the same rock and terrain as the Canadian Gold deposit? I'll have to dig to see if I copied the information or theory that I read this from.

 

[Nugs Bunny]

Ill admit i was hasty its just that i have spent years here doing this and know this area well. I dont know much about the northern parts of the state as i eluded but I know every creek here in Warren, Brown, Clermont, Clinton counties and have been in most.
I still believe your missing my point on the hard rock/drift mining but whatever.
I have dug into till and spent time in creeks where you could pick out the layers in the bank of glaciation and sediment buildup and glaciation again ( halls creek in Morrow is an excellent example ) and I firmly maintain that digging in till is a waste of time. There is nothing that can be done to change my mind on that.
I understand your trying to help Cincinnatikid as I am as well. The DNR here doesnt have great info thats available to the public although they know more than you think and still hasnt provided surficial deposit maps for Brown county which I believe is THE MAP TO USE besides topo maps
Please accept my apology for being defensive but felt it was an attack on the time ive put in by someone that didnt really know. Hopefully we can help others and learn along the way ourselves.
If you PM me ill gladly share more info as to names, land owners and places as I dont want to post it in an open forum.

No problem, sometimes online it's hard to gauge between comments and criticism.

I think you misunderstood what I was saying about the till, even if the material is concentrated by water it is still considered till but that wasn't my point. The gold comes from the Abitibi deposits, so it makes sense to look for areas with erratics associated with the Abitibi Greenbelt and not just erratics in general. I agree one should focus on areas that have been concentrated by Mother Nature, that's the nature of placer mining.

I also agree on the maps, I printed out a lot of the different ones on celluloid film so I can overlay them.

Sorry for the misunderstanding and apology accepted.

 

[Sick4gold]

you obviously have alot to add and I value your input, i again apologise for my childishness.
Not criticism but a question, have you really seen Zinc Ore here?
I have found alot of granite, quartz baseballs, So much pyrite itll sink your dredge if your not careful, galena, graphite, limestone, Dolostone, greenstone, and sooooo much garnet and garnet sand, platnium, obviously magnetite and hematite, coal, copper and I know people that have found a diamond or tanzenite but have never heard of Zinc ore here. If you have any more info please elaborate
By the way on the Surficial deposit map ive found SG ( bright orange )to be pretty rich

 

[Nugs Bunny]

Here, I'll throw another mess in here! lol

Deep in northern part of the state. Could hold gold in the rock. way, way down. But we can't get to it. I don't remember the details, it has been so long since I read about it. Something about, before the glaciers came through and did there thing. It was the same rock and terrain as the Canadian Gold deposit? I'll have to dig to see if I copied the information or theory that I read this from.

According to the ODNR the possibility of lode Gold occurring in Ohio is very likely, yet as you stated it would occur at depths impossible to mine.

 

[Nugs Bunny]

you obviously have alot to add and I value your input, i again apologise for my childishness.
Not criticism but a question, have you really seen Zinc Ore here?
I have found alot of granite, quartz baseballs, So much pyrite itll sink your dredge if your not careful, galena, graphite, limestone, Dolostone, greenstone, and sooooo much garnet and garnet sand, platnium, obviously magnetite and hematite, coal, copper and I know people that have found a diamond or tanzenite but have never heard of Zinc ore here. If you have any more info please elaborate
By the way on the Surficial deposit map ive found SG ( bright orange )to be pretty rich

Thanks and no problem.

I have found what resembles zinc ore on occasion, this doesn't mean it was for a fact though. What I have found was very similar to this.



I forget to mention porphyry copper, I have found considerable amounts around the Cleveland area along with lot's of quartz, greenstone, granite and gneiss.

Check out this spot in the Cleveland area, I can't wait to get back to this spot with the dredge, there is false bedrock created by a fossilized beach. Access is a problem so I have to trailer the quad and cart up there... except I have no trailer lol!

All my videos are in HD, I recommend watching them 1080p

 

[KipInOhio]

Hey i will throw in my $.02 .
Found a picker so small and full of holes in my pan once in Montgomery county,Ohio.
Got home, went to look at it again, dropped it in the carpet and it was never seen again....