Gold Vein Odds


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So if a gold vein was found are the odds good there is another close by? And close by I mean within a mile or so.

Or 3 miles....

or....10 miles...

Or...werever it decides to poke its head up and be worn away from the earth. :)

Just no ryme or reason actually.

Tom H.

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There are usually zones of mineralization where gold bearing veins are found.All quartz veins are not gold bearing,even in these zones.The circumstances of finding gold on/in a vein likely will vary even a few feet away,but then again they may not.All veins do not surface(blind veins).Some veins may contain rich species/fines/good ore bodies,other gold bearing veins may just contain fine gold or microscopic ore.Any of the above cominations may apply.Even a rich vein will not have contineuos gold along it's strike.The gold goes in and out.Get all the state and federal mining reports available for your area of interest.Get a copy of Handbook for Prospectors by Richard Pearl or an older edition by VonBernewitz,available online at varying prices..or a big public library/university library.A zillion books on the subject.....also read the paper by Chris Ralph(Reno Chris) who posted the article on coarse gold formation..it's on this site somewhere.

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Hello Guys,

Interesting subject, but believe the answer has way too many variables. Here is just one -

I know several areas where you can sample quartz stringers for miles and just about everyone carries some small values, but not economic enough to work or "mine." Most of these small veins or veinlets carry gold values of about .20 to .55 ounces/ton and silver values around .40 to .75 ounces/ton. If the deposit was an open pit, where you had millions of tons of ore, you could probably economically mine the gold values at 1/2 per ton.

That being said, these veins or veinlets are very narrow, pinch down to an inch or so, swell to about 3-4 inches max.

Many of these vein systems are within feet of each other, probably hundreds within several square miles.

Over the years I have brought back truck loads of this ore hoping somewhere the values would increase to .75 to 1.50 ounces/ton of gold, but I have yet to find one yet.

If I could find one that has values of 1+ ounce per ton with enough ore to play with, then I think as a hobby someone willing to put the effort into it could make a few bucks crushing ore each night for an hour or so.

I guess what I'm really asking is, "What is considered a Gold Vein?" To me a Gold Vein is any vein that contains some gold that is the primary metal. If there was more Silver or Copper or whatever, then it would be a Silver or Copper vein and not gold. I would consider a gold vein to have the larger amount of values over other metals.

Just my thoughts,

Rob Allison

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Hey guys

I get asked this a lot. Where do I look for gold? what do I look for? Well you can follow the old timers or you can search for virgin outcrops along veins,

I like to do both. Here are some tips on what I look for.

Stringers can be very frustrating as they usuly only produce a limited amount of gold and because they really dont have any rules they follow there is no way to predict where to hunt for gold around them. So just not a viable source for large mines.

If your tracing or "tracking" larger quartz veins as I call it.

First learn how to guesstimate the amount of mountain uplift along the veins suspected course or trend.

Exposed veins can extend for miles or they can dive and pop up on the other side of a valley depending on

the mountain uplift,tilting or the amount of erosion.

Learn how to identify and pay special attention to faulted areas, shear zones and contact zones and dikes along the veins course.

Were Granite and schist or granite and gneiss meet.

I like were two different types of rock and the quartz vein all meet together.

Just add a little geothermal hydrothermal activity, (In the "vicinity" of old volcanic activity). Not in it or on it but rather near it.

Faulting, shearing, Dikes and contact zones in these areas allows hydrothemal activity (smoke,steam and hot

solutions came up and it brought gold with it when the volcanic activity was more active long ago..

Its actually still going on in areas that are geothermal or hydrothemally active today.

These are some of the best indicators for one type of rich gold pocketing deposits. there are other types of deposits too, but hunting under where all these things come together is were I've found the best patches.

This is also why I like desert hunting. I'ts easier to see/read the geology at a distance without all the trees and pine needles..

Take care out there, AzNuggetbob

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Learn how to identify and pay special attention to faulted areas, shear zones and contact zones and dikes along the veins course.

Were Granite and schist or granite and gneiss meet.

I like were two different types of rock and the quartz vein all meet together.

Very true ! In the Trinities where you find this feature, you will also find an old mine.

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There are usually zones of mineralization where gold bearing veins are found.All quartz veins are not gold bearing,even in these zones.The circumstances of finding gold on/in a vein likely will vary even a few feet away,but then again they may not.All veins do not surface(blind veins).Some veins may contain rich species/fines/good ore bodies,other gold bearing veins may just contain fine gold or microscopic ore.Any of the above cominations may apply.Even a rich vein will not have contineuos gold along it's strike.The gold goes in and out.Get all the state and federal mining reports available for your area of interest.Get a copy of Handbook for Prospectors by Richard Pearl or an older edition by VonBernewitz,available online at varying prices..or a big public library/university library.A zillion books on the subject.....also read the paper by Chris Ralph(Reno Chris) who posted the article on coarse gold formation..it's on this site somewhere.

Dave, Thanks for the book recommendation. Found it used on Amazon and just received it yesterday. I have only had time to glance through it briefly but there is a lot of interesting information. Thanks again.

Stan

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Tracker

I tend to find more large gold associated with high temp primary quartz

deposits and generally smaller gold with lower temp secondary enrichment deposits.

Its not the size of the vein that makes the difference its also the age of the vein that matters. this can be determined by the host rock or the type of rock that surrounds the vein.

I hope this makes it a little more clear.

Take care out there, AzNuggetBob

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