PROSPECTING TIPS
The Great Gold Rush of the 1970’s is going on and on.
Modern day prospectors – amateurs and professionals alike from the Appalachians to Alaska – are swarming into the hills to search for the precious yellow metal. The reason for this new outbreak of gold fever, of course, is the high price of gold – now “several times” the previously frozen figure of $35 an ounce.
If the idea of combining your weekends and summer vacations with the opportunity to substantially increase your income sounds appealing, then grab your GOLD CONE and take advantage of the gold rush now going on. Cash-in on the current bonanza in high gold prices that is sweeping the world. Add to your outdoor fun (and profit) by prospecting and CONING for gold. Who knows, you might hit “pay dirt” along one of the many waterways or in some dry wash in the desert, because there is still gold in “them thar hills.”
The actual CONING of placer gold is one of the easiest skills for the weekend prospector to acquire. But most beginners have trouble in locating a good placer area even in a known gold-bearing stream. Many simply find a good place to camp and start panning (or CONING) right there – a method generally considered to be about as fruitless as shooting at random into the sky for ducks.
There is no magic formula for finding gold, but a grasp of the fundamentals on where the gold comes from and how it is deposited is extremely important and often a great help. Below are some tips on how to prospect, where to look in general, and how to select a good sample and interpret the results.
THE GEOLOGY OF GOLD
Gold placers are water-borne deposits of gravel or sand containing gold. They are formed by the erosion of a surface which has outcrops of gold ore (lode gold). The original source of the gold was a vein, such as a gold-bearing quartz vein, or similar type of mineralized zone in the huge mass of solid rock that makes up a mountain or the bedrock of a river.
Weathering decomposes the rock mass. The run-off of rain and snow carries the disintegrated rock down the mountainside, down the ravines and gullies to the streams and rivers. The rock is ground to gravel and sand and, in the process, the gold is freed in the form of dust, flakes, or nuggets.
Since gold has a specific gravity of 15 to 19.3 (depending on its degree of purity), it is several times heavier than the associated mineral. Black sand particles (in which fine gold is often found) has an average specific gravity of less than 5, while placer gravel has an average of less than 3. This heaviness of gold causes it to sink in running water and work its way down through the lighter sand and gravel toward bedrock. Thus the gold becomes concentrated and a placer deposit is formed.
The primary point to remember in this “weathering” process that releases and carries and deposits the gold is that knowing just where to look (or CONE) is half the battle.
WHERE TO CONE FOR GOLD IN RIVERS AND STREAMS
Selecting a good sample is the first and most important step in prospecting with your GOLD CONE. Since gold is heavier than water, it stands to reason that placer deposits will most likely occur where the carrying power of the stream is reduced. Wherever and whenever the water slows, the gold gradually sinks to the bottom.
The best place to CONE, therefore, is where the velocity of the water is less – where the stream widens, bends, or curves; in the sand and gravel bars; in the deep, placid pools below rapids; or in the eddies behind big boulders.
Learn to “read” the river. Understand the nature of stream currents. Then discover the places where the water runs slow . . . where conditions are favorable for forming natural gold traps.
Check the narrow crevices and cracks, the deep potholes, the inside bend of curves, the edges of whirlpools, the tail of eddies, the downstream side of obstructions, the sandbars … check even the gravel banks above the river where gold traps are often left high and dry during the low-flow summer months. Try your luck in all these places at or near bedrock, because in most cases that’s where you’ll find the gold.
Prospect steadily upstream, picking out the best places for sampling and CONING as you go. You will learn a lot from your GOLD CONE. Use it often and study the stream or area you’re prospecting carefully. By continued use and practice you will be able to spot the most likely places for the occurrence of gold by sight, while leaving the barren areas behind for the amateurs.
DON’T PASS UP THE DRY PLACERS
Unlike the rivers and streams which have been worked and re-worked, desert areas offer you an opportunity to work virgin gold country, thus increasing your chances of finding a sizable gold deposit. In fact, the number of these dry areas is so vast, you may find yourself “wildcatting” (prospecting in a place that has had no previous discoveries) most of the time.
Pick out a mountain range (one that shows mineralization), then follow along the foothills testing the numerous dry arroyos. Take samples at various spots across each dry wash and from the side draws, digging down until the color of the sand darkens or down to bedrock.
If equipped with a metal detector, set it on “mineral” to locate these concentrations of black sand in the dry stream beds. This will sidestep the trial and error system of selecting a spot and increase your chances of finding gold by pinpointing those working areas that “look promising.”
You will not always find gold where there is black sand, but if the yellow metal is present in the area, it will always be deposited with these iron oxides.
Do your prospecting and gathering of samples (identified by number and map location), then return to base camp to check the samples for gold. Conserve your packed-in water by CONING into a galvanized tub or large pan, and re-using the water over again.
PROSPECTING TOOLS
Besides a GOLD CONE, you should carry the following basic tools for working placer deposits: A geologist pick for breaking up rock specimens; a pry bar, prospecting pick, trowel, and a shovel for digging the samples; a whisk broom or brush for sweeping samples from dry crevices; and several small bags for holding your samples.
Other useful items include a pocket magnifier for checking your concentrates, since gold particles can be extremely small; a pair of sharp-pointed tweezers for picking small flakes of gold from your CONE; a magnet for separating magnetic sand from gold; and a small glass vial for keeping the gold you find.
GOLD! OR FOOL’S GOLD?
It takes a lot of practice and skill to prospect successfully and to select a good sample, but being able to interpret what you have in your GOLD CONE is what really counts. Making a positive identification of placer gold in the field is of prime importance, because more than one mineral masquerades as gold.
By far the most common deceiver is pyrite – better known as “fool’s gold.” It is heavier than most minerals and nature has endowed it with a color close to gold, making it easy for the casual prospector to make a mistake.
Pyrite is brittle and often breaks with a smooth fracture. It breaks off in small chips when scratched with a knife, and the fracture surface is brilliant.
Mica is another deceiver that has a shiny gold surface under water. It is much lighter than most rocks, thus it never sinks through gravel and sand. Mica is flaky and often breaks into flat plates that float freely with the water, above the gravel.
Gold is vastly different. It is a very malleable metal, and can be flattened by hammering or easily scratched with a sharp instrument. It will not chip, flake, crack, or break like pyrite or mica, hence you can test simply by hitting a suspected gold sample with a hammer, or by cutting it with a knife.
Placer gold seldom has a lustrous shine, but is dull yellow. It is nearly always pitted or roughened by stream abrasion due to its softness. Since gold is a heavy mineral – three or more times heavier than most rocks – it will sink to the bottom of gravel in water. If there is gold in your GOLD CONE, it will lie firmly on the bottom under any remaining gravel and sand.
Almost every prospector, at one time or another, has been fooled by fool’s gold. Just remember “all that glitters is not gold,” and after you become familiar with pyrite and mica, you’ll soon learn to recognize gold when you see it – by the way your pulse quickens.