Prospecting Adventures!

[Quinc]

Rather then start a bunch of threads I am going to log my adventures on this thread. I try and do a little prospecting every week and plan to document it here. You could fill the outside of a barn with what I dont know so please dont hold back on any tips, tricks, criticisms etc

This last weekend it was pouring down rain and when the rain let up the river was about 10-12ft high so wasn't able to get any prospecting in. So helped my mining partner out with his first video. Found some carpet on the beach and being this beach is full of flood gold we panned it out to see what was in it. 🤞

 

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[delnorter]

Welcome. You have a great little partner. (Partners)
Really nice to see the youngsters with enthusiastic energy having fun.
Mike

 

[Quinc]

Rain stopped long enough for us to get out there today. Rivers are all at flood level so went to this normally small creek and hit one of the inside bends. Large sand bar for this area and filled with tons of dead trees. Found a great crack going into the sand bar and just keeps getting deeper. Running the 5" subbie and loosing a ton of fines (buddy was panning behind me and getting a ton of fines out of my tailings. This has my wheels turning thinking about how I can extend the sluice box.

Heading back up tomorrow and going to try hitting the top of the sand bar to see if there is bigger gold up there.

Video from today. Largest piece is the piece you see me pick up in the video.

 

[Quinc]

After yesterdays lackluster day I found a new spot with some shallower bedrock and closer to the truck. Big piece in the pic is mostly quartz.

 

[Quinc]

Forgot to mention I found a large coin in the sluice too! So after carefully trying to clean it with vinegar and a tooth brush I got bored and used the grinder wire wheel. 2016 quarter. 💪

 

[Quinc]

Between kids sports, weather, and work, I haven't gotten out in a while. But managed to get in a few hours this last Saturday and Sunday. Interesting material in the creek. Nothing like I have seen anywhere else so far. Really hard packed redish/orange gravels where we found the larger of the gold (biggest piece so far! .85g). Followed by a hard pack clay/gravel layer with large (20-60lb) rocks in it, where we found the majority of the smaller gold.

Day 1

Day 2

 

[DizzyDigger]

Nice! Looks like you ended up with a few grams...

 

[Quinc]

Another good day! As I have followed the crevice upstream the gold has gotten smaller. So went downstream about 60ft and the gold got bigger, but less of it.

 

[Chilli]

Another good day! As I have followed the crevice upstream the gold has gotten smaller. So went downstream about 60ft and the gold got bigger, but less of it.

View attachment 2197344

Some nice coarse bits there. 👍

 

[Quinc]

Some nice coarse bits there. 👍

Right when I think I am getting close to the source i lose it. Find a pocket of very rough gold with the occasional small specimens, then goes back to being smooth and worn gold again.

 

[Chilli]

Right when I think I am getting close to the source i lose it. Find a pocket of very rough gold with the occasional small specimens, then goes back to being smooth and worn gold again.

Yeah that would be frustrating.
Gold makes me scratch my head at times.
That what is happening to you reminds me of detecting old shallow leads and halfway down the lead after getting nicely worn bits you get some specimens and much rougher bits but there's no sign of a side feeder or reef. Detect the hillsides and slopes either side and nothing. They were obviously not from the rest and part of another feed in but try as one can it remains a mystery.
Maybe, hopefully, you'll find that source when you least expect it 👍

 

[Crow]

Right when I think I am getting close to the source i lose it. Find a pocket of very rough gold with the occasional small specimens, then goes back to being smooth and worn gold again.

That's the curse of Alluvial gold. River beds can change course over time.

Crow

 

[Crow]

Yeah that would be frustrating.
Gold makes me scratch my head at times.
That what is happening to you reminds me of detecting old shallow leads and halfway down the lead after getting nicely worn bits you get some specimens and much rougher bits but there's no sign of a side feeder or reef. Detect the hillsides and slopes either side and nothing. They were obviously not from the rest and part of another feed in but try as one can it remains a mystery.
Maybe, hopefully, you'll find that source when you least expect it 👍

Generally speaking as rule of thumb knowing the source of the gold deposit is Porphyry or epithemal is helpful?

With Eipithermal gold that form in reefs and loads as rule of thumb larger nuggets are closer the shredding gold reef then course gold then along the bed of erosion then further along flake then fine gains at the end of Alluvial deposit. Technically upstream or uphill the gold lode or vein is physically eroding and forces of nature of millions of years are grinding the gold back into fine grains.

Porphyry deposit is generally fine flakes mixed in with other metals as the host rock disappears through erosive action of time the fine particles float and collect in crevices or mixed in with fine sand, black sand notorious for holding tiny gold particles.

There are many types of gold deposits. Auriferous porphyry dykes, sills, and stocks; Auriferous pegmatites; coarse-grained granitic deposits + albitite. Carbonatites and carbonatite-related deposits. Auriferous skarn and gold skarn type deposit. Gold/Silver and vise-versa veins, lodes, mineralized pipes and irregular silicified deposits in fraction, faults + zones. Auriferous veins, lodes, sheeted zones, saddle reefs in faults and fractures. Silver/Gold and vise-versa veins, lodes, stockworks and silicified zones in a complex geological environment with sedimentary, volcanic and various igneous intrusive + granitic rocks. Disseminated and stockrock gold/silver deposits in igneous, volcanic and sedimentary rocks. Gold deposits in quartz-pebble conglomerates and quartzites.
Eluvial and alluvial placers.

most of these of course is out of reach of the average Hobby miner but still Alluvial gold and odd reef gold is still with in reach of average person only after hell of a lot of hard work.

Crow

 

[Chilli]

Generally speaking as rule of thumb knowing the source of the gold deposit is Porphyry or epithemal is helpful?

With Eipithermal gold that form in reefs and loads as rule of thumb larger nuggets are closer the shredding gold reef then course gold then along the bed of erosion then further along flake then fine gains at the end of Alluvial deposit. Technically upstream or uphill the gold lode or vein is physically eroding and forces of nature of millions of years are grinding the gold back into fine grains.

Porphyry deposit is generally fine flakes mixed in with other metals as the host rock disappears through erosive action of time the fine particles float and collect in crevices or mixed in with fine sand, black sand notorious for holding tiny gold particles.

There are many types of gold deposits. Auriferous porphyry dykes, sills, and stocks; Auriferous pegmatites; coarse-grained granitic deposits + albitite. Carbonatites and carbonatite-related deposits. Auriferous skarn and gold skarn type deposit. Gold/Silver and vise-versa veins, lodes, mineralized pipes and irregular silicified deposits in fraction, faults + zones. Auriferous veins, lodes, sheeted zones, saddle reefs in faults and fractures. Silver/Gold and vise-versa veins, lodes, stockworks and silicified zones in a complex geological environment with sedimentary, volcanic and various igneous intrusive + granitic rocks. Disseminated and stockrock gold/silver deposits in igneous, volcanic and sedimentary rocks. Gold deposits in quartz-pebble conglomerates and quartzites.
Eluvial and alluvial placers.

most of these of course is out of reach of the average Hobby miner but still Alluvial gold and odd reef gold is still with in reach of average person only after hell of a lot of hard work.

Crow

Hi, mate, im not scratching my head because im novice to how and where.
Im talking actual even with all that knowledge even the experts are still scratching their heads at times and playing guessing games.
Rheola. Huge nuggets found over seven feet above the bedrock in the loam as the diggers were driving down to bedrock.
Longbush. Huge nuggets 15, 50, 200 0z, found detecting sitting on their own on top of clay only covered by dirt/loam. Not a speck of gravel or sands within cooee!
Nuggets from Talbot and Amherst with nothing in the vicinity even remotely resembling anything gold comes from. Im not talking just me and my mates are wondering, im talking historically up to this day from mining surveyors and experts that there are still unexplained occurrences.
There's lots of places like that here that to this day they just guess but don't know. Oh they find lots of gold using all the new knowledge and I know a crew that found a hugely rich lead and work it with serious gear, but even they with all expert help are none the wiser and scratching their heads where the source is. Hundreds upon hundreds of nuggets they have found.
Iv known lots of guys with claims over my 35? Yrs gold detecting and there's been some seriously "huh!?" finds.
Im talking actual still to this day headscratchers.

 

[Crow]

I have no doubt ya know a thing or two after 35 years.

You guys have a great area to detect down there. I am no geologist but lived and worked with geologists in mineral exploration drilling truth holes many times what geologist expected was not there. Each was keen to teach me about geology.. I worked in exploration drilling.in Australia. New guinea, Indonesia, south America. World for all the big mining companies. All teat you as number and of course expendable. I worked on some of largest discoveries of mineral deposits around the world. Li

Here is a interesting video that might be solution to your head scratchier.

Little Bendigo. interesting to East to west faults and subduction events from east to west and Horst and Grabben event.

Maybe your area in question area has had a Horst and Grabben event. in which change river courses and mixes up geology with alluvial deposits that make us all think WTF going on? This is example in Australia below.

Here is more clear geological example picture below another country. Small one but these can be very large where parts of earth sinks having one are full on nuggets the next nothing.

If you look around your neck of woods those rolling hills some are barely hills at all. then erosion from Horst covers the graben. might explain why your getting nuggets virtually on the surface.

Your part of world is full of these across Victoria. I would love to be in your part of world as its still premier nugget country.

These days I am retired but old habits die hard. As over many years it still ingrained in you. Victoria has massive potential with gold. not just big miner companies but average people daring to dream and get out out there and have a go. Especially reworking the old tailing of past mines. With the current price of gold it is well worth it.

Crow

 

[Crow]

Right when I think I am getting close to the source i lose it. Find a pocket of very rough gold with the occasional small specimens, then goes back to being smooth and worn gold again.

I might worth checking the banks especially where you found course gold. perhaps check out and trees with root systems fallen over as some time gold from reefs as they erode was through movement of soil towards rivers at various points. Keep in mind there may be more than once source of gold. With Quartz with gold. that is good indicator that epithermal gold seams might be near? Perhaps more than one as these fractures are like upside down tree roots that is leaching through erosion into river at different points.

Hoping ya hit pay dirt.

Watching your efforts with interest.

Crow