Finding lots of quartz, but no gold

[BoydWilliam]

Hi all,
I'm relatively new to the prospecting scene. I recently purchased a sluice, and have taken it out and dug a few holes in the riverbed of a creek close to home.
Yesterday whilst digging in the creek, i was coming across a LOT of quartz. Each time i classified my dirt/sands, i was finding heaps of pieces of quartz ranging from fingernail size to tennis ball size.
After processing 5 or 6 buckets of dirt/sands down my sluice, i still found nothing.
I was reading online that if you find quartz, its a good sign that gold could be nearby. Is this true?
Should i concentrate on digging the embankment of the creek rather that the actual creek bed itself?
Its all just a bit confusing for me at the moment!

 

[WalnLiz]

Unfortunately Quartz does not necessarily mean gold Boyd. Quartz is the most prolific mineral on the planet. Before you dig the banks check the nearest rock bar and dig a couple of crevices....look for black sand and ironstone. If these aren't present then give the creek a miss. If there's no evidence of old diggings along the creek or within a few ks of the creek, then chances are you won't find much gold. Research the gold bearing areas nearest to you ,and even if it means a bit of travel concentrate on these creeks instead....Cheers Wal.

 

[Copper]

i found the course offered by Diggerdude saved me years of learning the 'tricks of the trade'. And as Wal said, quartz is one of the most common minerals we will come across as prospectors. The relationship between the two is close in that load gold, or gold that's been extracted from surrounding rock will have been precipitated into the quartz as its being formed, so gold loads or veins are most often present in quartz. But this is still rare when comparing it to the amount of quartz around the place. If we're working a creek we are after alluvial gold which means the gold once held in a quartz vein has broken apart through erosion and found its way to the creek or river bed. Heaps of material can be found to do with this relationship by googling quartz and gold.

Basically if there's no gold there, move on. Best advice I was given (Diggerdude again) is go to where you know gold is. Don't waste time trying to find it anywhere - chances are its not there at all, the conditions have to be right for gold to have formed. Make sure you test, test and test pan again when you land in a spot that holds gold to make sure you spend your time as productively as possible.

I'm still learning Boyd but there is a wealth of knowledge and years of experience with the members here and I haven't found anyone who wasn't willing to help if asked.

Best of luck
Copper

 

[kemjak57]

Good info Copper.