trinityau Posted August 18, 2011 Report Share Posted August 18, 2011 Hey all, here are two pictures. The picture marked bottom is the gold that was found at the bottom of the hill. The other picture marked top is the gold that is coming off the hill. Years ago I was told that when I was prospecting that I should be on the lookout for the larger waterworn boulders as that would tell me there is larger gold to be found. I was also told that waterworn gravel had to be present to have a better chance of finding gold. Another thing I was told was that gold had to travel a very long way to get beat up. I am writing this so that some of the newer people we have coming on board understand that the last three statements above can be proven wrong in a great many gold bearing areas. I live in an area where we have ancient river channel scattered around here and there and provides some nice waterworn gold. However up on the hillsides there are also pockets that are currently eroding and depositing gold down the hill. Sometimes there is no quartz attached or even present anywhere nearby. This is another fallacy with gold, you do not have to have quartz present to have a pocket deposit. Here in my area you are looking for diorite contacting with shale. There is no quartz, the gold is in iron/clay seams and just erodes in place. If they happen to be on a hill then the gold in the top picture starts to look like the gold in the bottom picture. The area that this gold came from represents maybe several hundred feet from top to bottom, so it does not have to travel as far as many books will tell you it does. In most of the areas that I pocket hunt the biggest rocks are as big as your head and thats it.Another thing that happens that I learned on my own was horsetailing. It is most present along roadways and cuts. For example, the road you are driving on has been cut through shale. As you are driving along you see quartz seams that are generally going one direction. As you continue driving you start to notice that the quartz seams are going all directions, sometimes circles, then it stops and goes back to straight line seams. This is a horsetail. Now try to imagine the same formation on the ground that you are walking over, whether it be on a flat, hill, or a ridge. Sometimes you can see them , sometimes not. These are the areas that I have concentrated on in the past and have found many surface pockets this way. The horsetailing does not have to be quartz or shale, in my neck of the woods the diorite does the horsetailing in the shale. There is probably an actual geology term for this occurence, I dont know, I am not a geologist. Maybe somebody can give us the proper terminology.Again, I am writing this short piece to give a few people some hard learned lessons on pocket hunting. These are all my opinions of what I have learned and used over the years in the area that I hunt. I hope this helps someone. TRINITYAU/RAYMILLS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aussie John Posted August 18, 2011 Report Share Posted August 18, 2011 Nice post Ray thanks for the insight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill welch Posted August 18, 2011 Report Share Posted August 18, 2011 very interisting read ray..thanks for the info Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azoverland Posted August 18, 2011 Report Share Posted August 18, 2011 Really - thanks for sharing your hard earned know how TrintyAU. You sure are finding some nice gold to back it up with....very nice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam Posted August 18, 2011 Report Share Posted August 18, 2011 Ray , Over the years I have developed the thought that nuggets weather " in place" or close to it. Flowing sand and water over many thousands of years will round off nuggets in place . Sure they might move a few feet, but for the most part they get weathered in place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nvradar Posted August 18, 2011 Report Share Posted August 18, 2011 Knowledge is everything Ray. Thanks! NVRADAR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuckyLundy Posted August 18, 2011 Report Share Posted August 18, 2011 Ray,Seems you know your Seams! The oldtimer's figured it out and I'm glad they left a few for us modern prospectors. Keep the gold coming, we all love finding it and seeing it shine in our hands.LuckyLundy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brent in MT Posted August 18, 2011 Report Share Posted August 18, 2011 Always willing to listen to wisdom. Thanks for the post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azblackbird Posted August 18, 2011 Report Share Posted August 18, 2011 Always willing to listen to wisdom. Thanks for the post.Ditto... I always enjoy the field reports on these forums. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azblackbird Posted August 18, 2011 Report Share Posted August 18, 2011 double tap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reno Chris Posted August 18, 2011 Report Share Posted August 18, 2011 Flowing sand and water over many thousands of years will round off nuggets in place Maybe, but some nuggets are just born with rounded edges - the process happens when some of the fluids that form nuggets etch away edges during the formation process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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