PurpleGolds Gold Prospecting Journal

[Jeff95531]

LOL...not much to look at. Especially taken with a cell phone. The smaller ones are set aside for the tumbler. If I ever find it that is.



I spied this beauty at 100 feet away in the middle of a gravel bar. Made my heart keep skipping beats as I sprinted over to claim it till I picked it up and it was waaaay too light. Only one I've ever seen and think it clay mixed with sumthin.



Been out only once so far this season, and it was to an area that is known for gold but has skunked me at every attempt. Worked a low point near the front of a big boulder in an old stream bed...just to try a new approach or two. (Sampling prior was nada anyways). Classified at 1/2 inch and brought home a gallon of material. Soon as I started classifying...I knew it...nuttin but fools gold. But did get out on a great sunny day.

 

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[mrmanpig1]

That's an awesome looking rock. I am the same way about collecting rocks I almost always leave my creek with pockets of rocks or I stack them on the banks I have a box of them that probably weighs 100 pounds that I have collected over the years. Good luck on your 6 grams hope you get that and more. 🙂

 

[goldenmojo]

Hey Jeff. This pan of material I got looks like that rock in your pan might have shed it.

 

[PurpleGold]

Where I dig it seems the gold is in an orangish layer very similar to the color of that rock and that pan of material. That seems more dirty than rocky and I think my orange comes from pulverized decomposed granite that has oxidized exposed iron.
These are the things I look for lately:
Naturally layered cobblestone
The largest stone on the bar
Black sand deposits
Orangish layer that usually sits right on top of a black layer
concentrations of the black cobblestones as they seem the heaviest

 

[PurpleGold]

That's cool looking, haven't seen anything like that out here. There is a thread in the hard Rock mining sub forum and they will Identify it for you

Got A Rock you Want Identified? Post it here! gimme a good picture or 3 or 4!

I just posted some pics of this rock on that forum. Thanks mytimetoshine!

 

[GrizzlyGremlin]

Hey Purp, the ore out here is very "dirty", there is free gold, but its not as common as many other states.
Colorado's ore is mostly sulfide based porphyry.
Here is some quartz vein that is fairly rich.

 

[GoldpannerDave]

Thanks man! I had good ground, good tools and awesome company. There's nothing more I could ask for.

A cold beer?

 

[49er4ever44]

Lookin good man. Nice clean out. I found a local that has a Facebook page and hits A bar frequently. I dug with him while I was in town and it was a good time with a good clean up. https://m.facebook.com/groups/1669054253369423?ref=bookmarks
Hopefully the link works.

 

[PurpleGold]

Hey Purp, the ore out here is very "dirty", there is free gold, but its not as common as many other states.
Colorado's ore is mostly sulfide based porphyry.
Here is some quartz vein that is fairly rich.

Thanks for that knowledge Grizz, I've seen dirty deposits of quartz like that on hill sides behind Idaho Springs. I may need to take a rock hammer on my hikes from now on.

 

[PurpleGold]

I went out prospecting and found this rock face on a hillside that was an entire Quartz wall. I took a sample home with me to crush and pan later on.

 

[shofs]

I am very interested in how your rock crushing goes! I've been thinking of doing the same thing and getting one. One time when I was at the at the South Platte Carson Nature Center and I was asking permission to go into a fenced off area that has the BEST looking gravel bar I've ever seen (they didn't let me in), but they told me about a "teaching kids how to goldpan" program they run. According to the lady there was a little girl that found a "quartz rock with a big gold vein it" and "everybody was pretty excited".