The How To’s of Finding Gold

There are certain things that prospectors need to be aware of if they are thinking about doing their prospecting in the Mother Lode region.

First thing is to keep in mind that nearly all of the streams and creek have already produced gold, whether it be a little of a lot. There are still however, big sized nuggets that have been found in these districts.

Another thing to keep in mind is that almost all the gold quartz veins are not high grade, but this does not mean that you will not find some rich pockets though. Certain areas will allow people to use their metal detectors as well so you can try this way out around the sites of old camps. While it is true that not as much gold can be found like it was in the past, there are some people that have gotten lucky and have run into some big sized nuggets.

Keep in mind also that the miners in the past did not have access to all the specialized equipment we have available to us now a days. Due to this factor, the miners in the past were not as efficient with their prospecting and missed a lot of it sometimes. The only ones that were very efficient and were actually famous for this in the past were the Chinese miners. There were Chinese miners that mined areas that had already been mined and managed to get more gold out then the first miners that worked in the area.

The first hydraulic miners have said that they lost close to half of the gold in the gravels and this was in part because of the failure of the cemented gravels to break up after they ran the sluice out. Some geologists have gone as far as to say that they believe that more than ninety percent of the gold is still uncovered.

The gold veins that have been found in placer deposits come from veins due to the weather and disintegration of the ore. Just because there is a rich placer deposit it does not always mean there are rich veins close by as several low grade veins might also lead to a rich placer deposit.

Sometimes even richer deposits come from re concentration of older gold bearing gravels. In most cases however, the first source of the gold in the placer is close by to the first place of deposition.

Placer deposits are mainly formed due to the weight of the gold, which is near to seven times that of quartz and due to the fact that it is malleable. If you do see any gravel benches on canyon walls, make sure to test them in various areas around the bed rock.

Whenever you are going to be prospecting for lode deposits remember the type of ore that the gold is known to happen in their respective districts. Knowing about this type of information is important because otherwise you could end up wasting a lot of time and effort. Obviously gold can be found in other places that are not know of but it is not very likely to occur.

Something you should try to search for is float (float is pieces of the vein that has broken off and traveled down a hillside or a stream bed) and tag along with its source. After you have obtained some gold take as much as you can so that you can assay it or have it assayed. It’s best to assay larger amounts of gold rather than smaller amounts because the reading on its actual value is truer when it is in larger amounts.

You should also learn how to recognize quartz. This can be done by buying a few samples at a lapidary store as well as a mineral identification set that can be found in different stores. If you locate and outcropping quartz that is stained with iron or has fine grain pyrite you should get it assayed.

If you are in an area that has small rounded hills you should check them for mineralization. Also brush that is growing on a canyon wall in an area that is barren is also an indicator of mineralization and you should pay attention to these areas.

Good luck with your gold hunting.