Placer Gold

In the case of placer gold, it can be found in primary deposits that have been placed through specific types of weathering as well as erosion on the surface. When this process takes place, the rocks and the ore minerals that are inside of them become disintegrated to a certain extent depending on how much weathering they have gone through and turn into chunks or fragments and then into grains of gold. In this disintegration, boulders, gravel, sand, flakes and little particles of gold get washed into the gullies, creeks and rivers. Almost all of the rocks that bear minerals decompose chemically very rapidly and some of the make up is dissolved into the water and then carried away. However, given that gold is so heavy and resistant, it is carried down the stream and little particles of gold run down the stream as well as soon as it is set loose from the rock that was enclosing it. Water is able to move gold and coarse gravel when it is running very quickly. There are certain areas of the stream however, that do not move as quickly and where the stream gradient is slowed down, and these are the areas in which gold collects in the sand and gravel bars. Gold is around seven times heavier than sand or gravel therefore it rapidly becomes concentrated in the stream bed where it will fall into low areas and pockets. An irregular stream bed is the best when it comes to trapping these flakes or pieces of gold. Some very heavy and resistant minerals often times accumulate with gold as well, one such mineral is magnetite, which is the most common, however there might be other minerals present such as platinum, ilmenite, cassiterite, monazite, chromite, columbite-tantalite, as well as certain gem stones.

Placer deposits
In areas where gold can be found, gravel punchers, which is the name given to them in the North, search for gold in places that have coarse sands and gravels that have become concentrated and where these have settled with gold. The natural development of stream washing and the action of the waves is effective at separating the materials that have diverse densities. This is the type of process that is somewhat alike to that which the prospector does with his pan and the sluice box in that it classifies and concentrates the gold from the materials that are lighter. Deposits of placer gold are formed in the same exact way as it has throughout history. During the ages, the weathering and eroding process has brought about some surface placer deposits that have been buried underneath debris of rock. The fossil placer deposits become cemented in the hard rocks by the nature of the geologic action; however the shape and the characteristics of the old river channels can still be recognized. There are a number of areas in which the discovery of placer deposits became the first indication as to where there were gold veins in the mountains and in the head waters of the stream. In certain areas, nonetheless, the veins are not high enough to make a good profit and deposits of that are economically valuable have concentrated the gold vein into a stream deposit. The better and richer gold placers have formed in an area where a younger stream cut through a previous placer deposit and concentrated about the gold with a partner.