Untraveled gold question?

[Ragnor]

I found several pieces of crystalline gold some with bits of matrix still attached yesterday. Under the microscope they show little to no signs of wear. I know nobody can tell me a definitive answer on this however I'm still gonna ask anyway. How far would someone figure gold might be able to travel without getting mashed up? Most of the gold I get it squashed pretty flat by the time it gets to my claim. This stuff looks really fresh. This gold would have been deposited in high water. Lots of boulders and cobbles moving in the system. Lots of white water. Not an easy ride.

How far would folks expect gold could make it and still look brand new, fresh out of the vein? I know the gold I am finding in another creek that is this crisp and crystally has only traveled maybe 1000 feet or less.

 

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[Aufisher]

I would sample uphill. The gold gets pounded and rounded quickly once in the creek /river.

 

[Goldwasher]

it could be coming from stringers in the bedrock or from cobble that's breaking. any pics?

 

[Tuberale]

I'd bet it came within 150 feet of where you found it. Stringers in bedrock or a cobble breakup sounds about right to me. Check that area carefully, Ragnor.

 

[Ragnor]

This is the best I can do right now. Most of the material has already gone into the jar or the cons bucket. I'm headed back up tomorrow. I'll photo any more examples I get before I sort them. This is a very small piece but it still shows the crisp square edges.

 

[Ragnor]

Finally got some better examples. I was digging deeper and did not get much of the fresh stuff. Working higher up I got another batch with untraveled material. Still small but I got a better photo.



Not as well focused as I would like. Still shows the difference between the rounded and rough pieces though. I will continue to update with better (larger) examples as time goes on.

Nice little piece of platinum too

 

[spaghettigold]

this gold probably traveled between 16 to 40 miles.If glaciers where involved you want find nothing near uphill. But i guess to be shure one has to check,who knows..

 

[bug]

It can travel very far from the source. We have to remember gold is usually locked in quartz or the red hematite which takes time to break down. I rarely get too excited unless you start finding it in large quantities.

 

[Underburden]

Ragnor, Check that piece you called platinum. It looks too bright colored and I'm thinking it's mercury covered gold.
The platinum I have is way darker.
Here's some placer gold that I retrieved less than 100 yards from the lode source.
Bob

 

[et1955]

It also could be silver, the silver I find up here is always very brilliant when found in the river.

 

[63bkpkr]

Ragnor & Underburden mighty pretty looking samples! Keep up the good work gentlemen!!...............63bkpkr

 

[Mgumby16]

One area we dredge produces very crystalline gold and specimen pieces. I believe we are within 100 yards of the source but we have not been able to locate it.

Thoughts on distance from source? I've done some metal detecting on the surrounding hillsides and have yet to find anything. There is an old hard rock mine about 0.5 miles upstream but I don't think this gold traveled that far. Plus the gold we find up closer to the hard rock mine is actually more placerfied

Also of interesting note is that in the area where the coarse gold is found it is always on bedrock but rarely in deep holes in the bed rock. For instance I found a 3 gram piece sitting on top of a 2 foot ledge.

And my buddies dredging right next to me were in a 4 foot deep hole and found nothing. It's been a puzzling spot.



Ragnar the beautiful pieces you found look like they could have traveled fairly far. But I'm not sure since I have the same question you do lol.

 

[Ragnor]

The silver material does not burn off with a torch.
It does not spread through the gold like cancer.
Mercury coated gold from swauk spread till it consumed the vial and it burned off easily.

 

[Eu_citzen]

As a rule of thumb in my area, if the gold looks 'rough' we go by 1-2 Km from the source. (as a maxiumum)
I'd surely sample the sides and upstream as well!