Panning the hole material

[meMiner]

Looking for opinions or experience. Just something I have been thinking about and put it out there to create a discussion. I have not seen any videos or threads on processing the material from the hole when metal detecting and wonder if anybody commonly does this?

My thinking is that I have already gone through the effort of digging the material from the hole, I am in gold country, so why not keep what I have dug and run it over a sluice or pan it out? If you do this, what is the most effective process? One thought is to put the loose material into a 5 gallon bucket for later. Maybe only take material from a hole that produced gold. Maybe only material from the bottom of the hole, so not to overwhelm the bucket. It is probably only worthwhile to haul around a bucket when working small areas. If you take the material, how do you fill you gofer hole(s)?

 

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[63bkpkr]

Hi Placergold,
I have learned to detect gold with my GMT, thanks to Lanny's guidance. During one prospecting experience I had 'chosen' a location (reading a river for the classic locations for heavies deposition) and after moving some rocks I started panning the Classified Material from the hole. Very soon I realized that this was not what I wanted to do sooooo, I located a spot on the river bank that did not cause the GMT to react. I would pour each new bucket of material from "the hole" onto this spot and detect it. If the GMT did not detect anything then I would pass on performing any more work on that pile. When GMT alerted me to a potential target then I put further effort into that section of the pile and would pull out either a lead bullet, magnetic rock or a piece of gold.

After several buckets of dirt had been poured onto my pile I wondered what I was missing so I panned a good section of the pile and Bingo - nothing.

Eventually the site intrigued me enough so that I purchased and hauled in a Keene A52 sluice box which caused me to run every bucket of material through it. By the end of the season I had a sizeable open trench that I found was quite unsightly so I chose to fill it in with various sized rocks just to improve the appearance of my site. That worked, was a lot of work but I was pleased as the trench had been turned back into a river rock covered section that approximated the appearance of the rest of that particular area. It took me awhile to realize that I'd not only re-beautified the area but I had again created a "heavies drop zone".

Dug holes anywhere look like dug holes be it on a beach, in a park, off anywhere in the back country, along a river or wherever. Yes in some cases mother nature will fill in the holes be it overnight along a beach or after the next spring flood of any river But, till the holes are filled in others will have to look at them and many of those others are disturbed that their enjoyment of the area has been marred by someone that did not fill in their holes. A child's sand castle along the ocean shore is one thing but a string of random holes is just not pretty.


Having back packed for many years in the Sierra Nevada Gold Country I've come across my share of old miners sites, I mean where the glass bottles have turned pink old sites, and they are still messy looking places. Historic but messy. Ugly is ugly even if it was created during the 1849 gold rush. Or, IMHO, everyone should fill in their holes and carry out their trash.


Enjoy your time out there and do what you feel is right. Good Hunting!.......................63bkpkr

the picture on the left is during prospecting, the one on the right is after filling in the trench. The entire site will eventually fill in with highwater carried debris, just like it did before I got there. It will be less difficult for anyone to pull the pile apart and it should be a profitable site. In the left picture I walked up to the tree line and brushed a pan full of dirt off of the very top and panned it. It had small gold particles in it!!! That took me off guard as I'd not really expected anything. Have fun.

29 Sept. As a further bit of clarification, I work the way outback and gone places so getting 'out' requires me to carry myself and gear back UP several thousand feet of elevation gain so I do not carry out buckets of dirt to work on at home. Anything that comes out with me is as clean as I can get it.

My GMT detects some rather small gold but not flour gold.

 

[Hoser John]

Where ever there is enough water i always take a sluice or in low water as now a pan. Todays detectors are great but they cannot pick up them tiny pieces and by weight they oft time outweigh the trophy pickers. I get a hit,drop a chip and keep on detectn'. Wasting time tring to seperate and find every little dink is a extreme waste of time. You can easily dig 3X the targets in half the time. Just use a bucket and a bakpak shovel and dig them all at once,recheck holes of coarse to be sure you got them biggies. Just did that for 3 days 2 weeks ago and found some nice pickers and plenty of much smaller gold. It was blazing hot so I dug smaller holes also because no water to sluice or even pan,so hauled home to process. In this drought I leave my rockhammer and pick at home as no quicker way to start a fire than striking against solid rock-especially quartzy as the sparks fly you can end up in deep trouble. .-Leave none as it all adds up-John

 

[delnorter]

"With the big iron on his hip" Comeown!!

Mike

 

[dave wiseman]

Placergold,that's a great idea which usually gets zero comments on the forums in the states or Australia.If you've found gold on or near an in place vein or vein system why leave the fine gold behind.Think about the tens of thousands of ounces that have been found in Australia on or near gold bearing reefs(veins)and yet few people really sample those reefs.Would be hard to believe that a lot of those veins don't have fine gold and or quartz gold species that are beyond the reach of the best detector or detectorist.Thousands of ounces laying about for the astute prospector.Even the much respected chap who posts as Dave in Darwin/or Darwin Dave never gave it a thought till I mentioned it to him on an old Finders Forum post.

 

[Hoser John]

Bigger gun,.357 mag stuffed with biforcated teflon impregnated shredders needed as now 3 bears to deal with. Playing ring around the truck 3 weeks ago was NO FUN as they coveth and fight for them last few drops.1 st pic the med bear rolled in the damp mud and slogged down the road leaving the trail and his SIZE ouch. 2nd-does a bear grunt in the woods-not here but in the road to let me know as I hiked past there 3 hours earlier to hit my hidey hole and he did this to show who is boss when I hiked back to my truck OMG yep him-John

 

[63bkpkr]

Yup, bears are no fun! In addition to my insurance policy that I carry in my left arm pit I also take along a container of Cyan Pepper. With the lid off the container, a wide mouth pill bottle, the pepper comes out easily and is good for one good dose. I've not needed to try it yet however the bears that have learned 'bad manners' just don't care when we bang pots and pans together so they've become dangerous. I'd rather be prepared for trouble, be willing to walk away from it if it will let me and will take action to protect myself from anything that threatens myself or the equipment I need to keep me alive while I am out there................63bkpkr

 

[Hoser John]

Yes they love that pepper spray as then when hikers find that pile a bear poo fulla bits a cloth,they can smell the pepper and know ya went down well seasoned Bear ring around the rosey was a bummer as they had left me alone ,so I was only carrying my tiny ol' 22 for rattlers and not firepower,that changed FAST John PS- Yes Dave that's the difference between weekend warrior trophy hunting and reality mining as in feeding,housing and sending kids through college by doing any mining possible and getting all you can get. My steel rake is another tool that pays off handsomely. When I hit a good pay area I'll rake off the first couple of inches(detect) and recheck the area again. Gems,mineral specimens,and relics also have a place in feeding/educating all them kids/gkids/ggkids.

 

[meMiner]

I normally see bears at least once per prospecting trip and none have done anything to cause me concern. However, I still pay attention. Here is a picture of of a small black that crossed the road near where I stopped outside Haynes Junction, Yukon. I did not see any grizzly this time around and suspect they were out of the small valleys where I was prospecting and instead all in the big rivers for salmon at that time of year.

 

[63bkpkr]

PG,
It is nice to see them at that distance and not 30 feet away while I'm carrying a bag of freshly caught Rainbow Trout or standing in front of your 'A' frame tarp tent some 15' away rocking back and forth and grunting (the bear not me) and then her twin cubs ran out of camp. They are beautiful animals...............63bkpkr

 

[meMiner]

I was talking to a friend who was at his mining camp this spring. He had 5 grizzly all around his camper, including 2 cub. He stepped outside and took pictures from 10 yards away. I don't know how he can get his pants up over those big things hanging between his legs. Either that or how he manages to tie his shoes with no grey matter inside his head. LOL

 

[Hoser John]

Just like that AK Bear Whisperer who ended up in a pile of bear poo along with his girlfriend. Never forget that video with him screaming whilst the crunching and gnashing of his bones went on for ages.....This drought has all the critters acting strange 2 and 4 legged -John

 

[NeoTokyo]

Went with a couple friends bear hunting last weekend, Need something taken care of John? I think they still have a tag to fill.

 

[meMiner]

I had a black bear tonight in my back yard. He ate some acorns (they are dropping like rain or maybe more like hail) and then climbed the apple tree for a snack. Afterwards, he wandered over the neighbors and pulled down her bird feeder. They stopped the spring bear hunt a few years back, but this year started it back up because of the problems they are causing. So far, the ones around here only show up in the spring and fall. I guess there is enough food for them during the summer that they don't risk raiding. They leave that to the raccoons....

A number of years back, I had one stalk me while I was panning in a small creek in BC. I didn't notice him until he was 30-40 yards away and behind me. After that, I saw him every day. He would run away if I yelled at him or took a shot over his head. A week after I left, he trashed a cabin and small barn to get at cat food store in both places.

Good luck with your hunting NeoTokyo. We sometimes take one at my deer camp, if somebody buys a tag and it happens to get flushed out in one of the deer drives. I don't know any Canadian who specifically tries a bear only hunt. Back when there was a spring hunt, the only bear hunters I ever ran into were American. I guess it is more of a "south of the border" interest/passion.

 

[IMPDLN]

Let me change the subject back to the original post , if I may.......Placergold, certainly nothing wrong with your line of thought. When I was new and learning to metal detect I would always clean out some material from cracks and crevices that I found heavy targets in. Usually lead back in those days as I was still learning. I still will clean out some material when I dig a target from a nice crack or crevice that gives me the impression it is a good drop zone for gold. I'm not talking buckets here, just the prime material right in the bottom of the drop, crack or crevice. Usually just a handful or maybe three hands full of material to pan later.....usually in dry areas so no water to pan it in right there. I sometimes carry a small one gallon bucket, but usually just have an old canvass bank bag in my pack to put material in.

Back in my earlier days, when still learning, this is how I got some of my very 1st nuggets. I can't explain how I missed detecting them other than I was green as a lizard at the time. I don't always get anymore gold by doing this. Some areas I frequent just don't have much for fine gold. However this is a good way to learn more about the area you are working and possibly even gain some good gold in the process.

You can take some material home without leaving an open hole behind as there is plenty of overburden you can throw back in a hole pretty much anyplace you go. Most the time you are detecting on shallow bedrock so it's not like your digging huge trenches metal detecting anyway.

I hope this better answers your question and clarifies the subject for some out there, and maybe helps some folks figure some things out about this hobby of ours. Too me this is a combination of metal detecting and crevicing which certainly has merit in gold prospecting. Dennis