Rock and Soil Coloration

[Chrisman91]

Hi Everyone,

Well, I went out swinging again today, with much better preparation than the last time, and still didn't find anything. I covered a lot of ground for several hours, and if I swung my coil any slower people who see me would think I was a statue. I just really don't think there are any nuggets to be found where I am looking. I know there is plenty of small placer gold because I find some every time I take out my Keene 151. I just don't think it is nugget territory. But the area that I hunt in (in and around Coolgardie) has some really pretty color variations in the landscape, and I was wondering if any of you could possibly tell me if the different colors in the pictures below signify anything of importance to a prospector? The light colored areas in the picture on the top are actually a bluish green, almost turquoise color. The hill on the left in the bottom picture has a darker green colored soil to it. Any ideas? Thanks.

[Mystic Dolphin]

Hi Everyone,

Well, I went out swinging again today, with much better preparation than the last time, and still didn't find anything. I covered a lot of ground for several hours, and if I swung my coil any slower people who see me would think I was a statue. I just really don't think there are any nuggets to be found where I am looking. I know there is plenty of small placer gold because I find some every time I take out my Keene 151. I just don't think it is nugget territory. But the area that I hunt in (in and around Coolgardie) has some really pretty color variations in the landscape, and I was wondering if any of you could possibly tell me if the different colors in the pictures below signify anything of importance to a prospector? The light colored areas in the picture on the top are actually a bluish green, almost turquoise color. The hill on the left in the bottom picture has a darker green colored soil to it. Any ideas? Thanks.

It's pretty that's what it is....

[oldies1955]

Hi Everyone,

Well, I went out swinging again today, with much better preparation than the last time, and still didn't find anything. I covered a lot of ground for several hours, and if I swung my coil any slower people who see me would think I was a statue. I just really don't think there are any nuggets to be found where I am looking. I know there is plenty of small placer gold because I find some every time I take out my Keene 151. I just don't think it is nugget territory. But the area that I hunt in (in and around Coolgardie) has some really pretty color variations in the landscape, and I was wondering if any of you could possibly tell me if the different colors in the pictures below signify anything of importance to a prospector? The light colored areas in the picture on the top are actually a bluish green, almost turquoise color. The hill on the left in the bottom picture has a darker green colored soil to it. Any ideas? Thanks.

Chris:

Blue green is usually copper.

Is this a known gold area?

Not to say there may not be gold there, but, go into areas that are known to have gold in the past. That makes it a lot easyer on the learning curve.

Where abouts are you located?

Tom

[Chrisman91]

Tom,

These pictures were taken approximately 6 miles away from the coolgardie placers outside of barstow where I live. The road that these are on is called Copper City Rd. I know there has been copper found in the area but I was under the impression it was found about 10 miles north of these hills.

The area I have been nugget hunting is known for producing good gold from drywashing. One person told me they found an 8 oz. nugget out there...then I find out that it was in 1956. Also, because of the numerous old mining camps that popped up back in the day, and all of the gun toting morons in our area, 99.9% of the time you are digging up casings, nails, tin cans, old bottle tops, birdshot, EVERYTHING that is not yellow in color. I looked at our local community college to see if they offered any geology classes, and of course they don't. Sure wish I could sweet talk an old timer into teaching me how to read the land to know where to go and what to look for. LOL.

[Paseclipse]

There's nuggets to be had out around Coolgardie and Williams Well but both locations are rather challenging to hunt. The only times I've found nuggets out there were freak occurences (wasn't expecting them) and they were rather small (1/2 grammers). I've heard about guys finding larger ones but have never seen one for myself. The gold out there is really pretty! I'd say use a small coil (if your using a Minelab PI) and metal detect the holes guys have been drywashing. Anytime ground has been moved make sure you metal detect it.

One thing you have to realise is that nugget hunting is a very challenging thing to pursue. First there's getting used to your detector and learning how to effectively use it. Then (and probably the hardest part) you have to figure out how to put yourself in the right ground. Most of the time you come home with nothing. Sometimes you'll only pop one or two nuggets out. Then sometimes you'll get on a streak and come home with nuggets most of the time. Then once in a great while you'll hit a nice patch! To me it's all about probabilities and the more you swing that coil the higher the probability of coming home with some gold.

Keep at it and the nuggets will come. Once you nail that first one (assuming your a newby) it gets easier from there. You mention putting in a "few" hours of hunting... Well you'll have to put in more than a few hours a day. I've always figured the guys who are regularly successfull at this hobby are putting in 8+ hours a day with a few small breaks. Think of it as work, only it's fun and the payoff might be some gold!

Good luck, I hope this helps!

Del

[Uncle Ron]

Check out Bill & Linda's pages for a wealth of info including prospecting the Coolgardie area ... Also, GPAA has claims there that are worth checking out when you are a GPAA member... Cheers, Unc

[DOC]

Where's the quartz Chris?

The red is the right color but I have seen so many of these looking places that yield nothing.

Show me that red hill with a quartz blow out of the side of it, at least a mile from any road, and I show you where to pluck a couple of nuggets. But not there. That's old diggings that are easily accessible. You're going to find lots of trash and little if anything of value.

No quartz, no gold.

And sometimes you have to look carefully because the quartz is there, it is just really pulverized. I like my quartz to really be decomposed, about the size of rock salt.

Honestly, if that actually is a place where you have been swinging your detector, I personally would not have bothered. Every place I have ever seen that looked like that, in close proximity to a road, has never been productive for me.

If you have a quad, slime the tires, so you don't get a flat. Buy yourself a tire plug kit with a compressor that you can hook up to the battery of the quad.

Now get off the road and ride for at least a 1/2 mile across the desert. Try to avoid running over bushes because they will pierce your tire. Keep going until you see a place that looks like the red dirt in your pictures where there are a group of small rounded rolling hills. Each one no higher than 30 feet. No sharp angles, no jagged features, where there is quartz evident. Get your detector and work every gully between those little soft rolling hills. Work every little drainage where it is evident that water runs when it rains.

The smoother and more round the hills the greater the indication that this little group of hills with their quartz reefs have been heavily weathered. Weathering breaks down the quartz reef and liberates the gold. Granite and and quartz contact zones are an excellent clue as to where gold may be found.

Even if you don't belong to the GPAA go look at their claims. Look at the conditions on those claims. No one can keep you from looking and taking pictures. Look at the areas where the prospectors have been dry washing. Look for where it looks like they kept going all the way to bedrock and worked an enormous area. That indicates they were finding gold. Now look at the place they worked and look at the conditions surrounding that area, because those conditions are what produced the gold the prospectors were finding.

One of the reasons guys like Rob Allison are so successful is because they know where to spend their time. They don't bother with areas that are not likely to be gold bearing, hoping to get lucky, they work areas that experience has taught them yields gold.

That's why the prospecting learning curve is exponential. The fist nugget takes you forever, the second nugget takes you half as long to find, the third nugget takes you only a quarter of the time. So your first nugget may take you 6 months, the next 3 months,the next a month and a half. Of course this depends on how many times you are going out. Soon you get to the point that you score a nugget or two every time you go out. Because you learn where to look. You spend your time in the most likely places, the places that remind you of other places where you have found gold.

I was lucky, Hoss Blackman taught me everything he knew about reading the land, what to look for and where to look. Prior to that I had spent three months wandering around swinging a metal detector without a clue as to where to look.

Take care!

Doc

[notoriouskelly]

Thanks for that great advice, Doc!

[Mystic Dolphin]

Yes thank you Doc I am sure Chris will put your advice to good use as will I. He is a very smart man I swear his brain is like an over sized sponge he reads and study's and takes every little bit of advice or information he can get and just stores it til he needs it. I have seen him even memorize map layouts and know exactly or pretty close to exactly where he needs to go with out a map. Thank you again my friend!