Need advise on strange gold occurance at my favorite spot.

mrlindeman

Jr. Member
Feb 6, 2013
60
21
Oregon
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
:hello: So I have been doin well panning at a local spot. The thing is I could do alot better running my sluice, only prob is.... Im only finding gold in pockets under old dead plant life and some bedrock cracks. This place has been picked clean by others so I am having to sniff the gold out hardcore. Its working but its hard to gather enough material to sluice. I am addicted to straying from my plan. Instead of test panning and finding the spot to clean the bedrock and classify, then sluice after gathering; I wind up panning every pan down to see the gold lol. I work hard not smart so thats my first thing I have to kick. I have tried digging the sand bar down to bedrock but ran into cobbles that are severly wedged. I cant shovel them things. Should i get a prybar and keep goin down? I am averaging ten to 40 colors per pan from only half cup of material at times from the bedrock. I know that once i can clear the overburden I will hit good amounts though. Gold in this area is great for panning but i want to save my back next time. I think the bedrock is about two maybe three feet down. The cobbles under the overburden sand are wedged in a way that tells me they have been there a long time. I have found a little flour gold testing as I dug to those cobbles. But heck, when i tried moving them away to get deeper I realized Im gonna need a bigger boat..I mean shovel, or pry bar. Any input guys?? Thanks ahaid of time. Pics comin real soon..:headbang::hello2:
 

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Mrlinder, from what I have read if you do it during the fall after a nice rain it is possible to transplant it, or you can pt both moss buttermilk or yogurt in a blender then paint the rock with it and since the river is fairly moist year round it will grow back. I found this on a website.
And that's a new one to me. Thanks!
 

You pretty much need to break up the root area of the moss... All the dirt, but the moss itself could be holding gold. Pretty sure that's where the term "miners moss" came from. Also the moss could be hiding exploitable cracks in bedrock.
 

I took some friends from Manitoba out for an afternoon of sluicing at one of my favorite little spots in August. We managed an eighth of an ounce in 3 1/2 hours. They were absolutely SHOCKED at how easy it was to actually find gold in the river. :-) I do love my gold panning.
 

I took some friends from Manitoba out for an afternoon of sluicing at one of my favorite little spots in August. We managed an eighth of an ounce in 3 1/2 hours. They were absolutely SHOCKED at how easy it was to actually find gold in the river. :-) I do love my gold panning.
Great little story...amazing how people just assume finding gold is hard. Still I bet you made it look easy compared to how they would do without you there to guide em.
 

So heres the update! I dug all over down to bedrock and cleaned like crazy. spent 5 hours digging and such. Only found one speck of gold lol lol. Oh well at least i know. The good news is I harvested some moss and found good gold. Then found a great streak on bedrock a little ways up. Got the best pan I have ever had. I will post the gold once I go through the 3 gallons of cons I have. There was alot of frozen waterfalls around. Total time working was 6 hours minus picture taking and relax breaks.
 

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