Need some tips on tailings and placer hunting

[Tony Teixeira]

Whoo Hoo! I went nugget hunting yesterday and did not get any gold. Huh?

The reason why I am happy is because I do not think I got poison oak this time, Whoo hoo!

When I went to Arizona last month I was just getting over it, then when I was coming back from Arizona I stopped at a spot in California, I was extremely careful to stay away from the poison oak but I still got it AGAIN!.... That time it was not that bad.

Well yesterday I was really precautious, I wore some Nitrile latex gloves, they fit tight and are strong, of course long sleeve shirt and pants, rattle snake guards...even though this area is not known for snakes it was another layer of protection..... And a full face motorcycle helmet. lol, just playing...No Helmet yet.

Anyways, the area we are hunting in is know for both placer and lode deposits, I printed a satellite map of the claims which were productive in their time and I sat down with the owner of the claims and he marked it up for me showing me where the mines and tailings were. Well off we went to the tailings at one mine and boy there were lots of nails, pipes..etc..etc... but it was an education, the owner showed me some rocks from the tailings with gold in(on) them.

I am sure there is a logical way to shoot tailings.....bottom up makes sense to me but I am not sure, Can somebody make a suggestion.... Please.

Well I went back to the gulch where I was successful when I first got my detector, I like looking for placer gold because of the trees blocking the sun and less garbage.......but there is much more lead. I found if you want to find lead all you need to do is look for old "No Hunting" signs and there will be tons of bullets nearby.

Well next week I am going to see if I can find what feeds this gulch, any pointers and tips are welcome!

Tony Teixeira

[nuggethunting]

Hello Tony,

I've found some nice gold/quartz specimens in mine dumps, but the PI's aren't the best for mine dump hunting in my opinion. A high freq. VLF works best. The Fisher Goldbug 2 was my favorite for hunting mine dumps.

Every mine is different. Some mines the gold ore can be scattered all through the tailings, while others it might be layered in the dump. Some mines have different piles, but I would search for the "pride" piles. These are normally smaller piles that were going to get processed and contained a higher value to them.

It wouldn't hurt to start at the bottom and zig-zag your way up the pile. Most tailings will have tons of iron rubbish, bullets & casings. If you get a signal on something, you might not see VG (visible gold), but don't discard the rock. It's very possible for a specimen to contain a good amount of gold within a rock with little or no gold exposed on the surface.

Here is a rich piece of ore I found many years ago. I found several that were in the 8-9 ounce range that had 30-40% gold.

2.31 Troy Ounces

Wishing you the best,

Rob Allison

[Tony Teixeira]

Hello Tony,

I've found some nice gold/quartz specimens in mine dumps, but the PI's aren't the best for mine dump hunting in my opinion. A high freq. VLF works best. The Fisher Goldbug 2 was my favorite for hunting mine dumps.

Every mine is different. Some mines the gold ore can be scattered all through the tailings, while others it might be layered in the dump. Some mines have different piles, but I would search for the "pride" piles. These are normally smaller piles that were going to get processed and contained a higher value to them.

It wouldn't hurt to start at the bottom and zig-zag your way up the pile. Most tailings will have tons of iron rubbish, bullets & casings. If you get a signal on something, you might not see VG (visible gold), but don't discard the rock. It's very possible for a specimen to contain a good amount of gold within a rock with little or no gold exposed on the surface.

Here is a rich piece of ore I found many years ago. I found several that were in the 8-9 ounce range that had 30-40% gold.

2.31 Troy Ounces

Wishing you the best,

Rob Allison

Thanks for the tips Rob,

I think I will stay away from the tailings for now and work the gultches and inside the river bends, the area I am in is known for both placer and lode deposits......and what also apears to be 22 bullets. Looking for nuggets on the sides of the hills next to the rivers and streams are relaxing and I enjoy that.

Thanks again!

Tony Teixeira