Searching in Rocks and Boulders

Rocks and boulders are some of the most profitable of all the pocket placers that exist. You should look in places where there are rocks and boulders as they are worth investigating; this can be done either by dredging or panning and this should be of a size that is large enough to be approximately placed permanently in the bed load, however it should not be that big to where it settles on the bottom.

Rocks in general are provisional obstacles to the stream however many of the ones that have a good size will stay in place for many years – hundreds of years in some cases until a big flood erodes the bed lode under them and carries the boulder by saltation to a new location that is lower.

In general there is not a rule as far as the size of a boulder that should be looked into but it should extend beyond the normal level of the stream and extend downwards but not less then six to eight feet. Obviously there is no way to say where the gold could be trapped however, in most cases it can be located on the down stream side. There are a lot of amateurs that know of a special rock they clean out every once in awhile, so try to find yours too.

Be careful when digging out a boulder in a stream, as it can be dangerous. Keep in mind that there is constant pressure from the current and if you take out enough sand and gravel down stream it is always possible the boulder might roll over onto the operator because of its odd shape. Just remember to never place yourself into a situation where would not be able to quickly retreat if the rock were to move all of a sudden.

Remember also that if the rock does move, even if it just moves a little bit to get out of the way as quickly as possible. If this occurs it is a good idea to place some more pressure on the other side by pushing to see if the rock is indeed loose. Make sure you are careful with boulders that have unusual shapes and that are loose. Keep in mind also that it is not good to take chances with these kind of boulders since in some cases they can weight up to one thousand pounds and lifting it off of yourself if it does fall over will be impossible.

Even though there is a danger is this type of job, in general rocks can be judged or deemed safe or unsafe from the top and there are a great number of panners and dredgers that enjoy working with them. Just make sure you are able to get deep enough to find the pay streak and place this gravel in your pan or dredge.

This is a bit more difficult when it comes to panning because the gravel has a tendency of separating very quickly and becoming mixed with the water. It is suggested to collect pay streak gravel in a gold pan at the lowest level and turn the gold pan a few times under the water before taking it up to the surface. Shoveling the gravel is not suggested because you will usually lose a good amount of gold.

Usually panners do not work in depths over four feet however this is different in the case of dredgers that have a snorkel as they can easily work in depths of at least six feet without any problems. If you are working with a dredge it is suggested to sweep an area wider than is needed just to assure the gold is not getting away.