Panning, digging gravel & clay.

[ozziii]

Only started panning not long back, recently found a spot & have been getting small specs of gold in most pans, first gold I have found since getting into the hobby with detecting a bit over 6 mts ago.
Anyway, in the creek, I'm getting specs from the gravels near the surface, then about a foot or so down there is clay, not sure how thick the layer is just yet but it would be over a foot atleast.
I have some clumps in a bucket I brought home to test so will do that tomorrow if I can, but by looking at it & the couple of small clumps I broke up, I haven't noticed gold in it.
What I would like to know is, should I dig deeper, into & through the clay or should I just pan the gravels near tbe surface.
The bits I'm getting are very small, to small to pick up with tweezers so have to dry it out & use damp/wet finger to pick it up.
Sorry if my newbie questions & explanations are hard to understand & thanks for any help, it very much appreciated.

 

[nucopia]

I have found that flood gold is above the clay as the clay acts as a barrier to prevent the fine gold from penetrating.
You can probably dig through the clay and do a few test pans of the material beneath the clay to see if it contains any gold.

 

[ozziii]

Ok thanks good to know will do that & see what happens.
I'll have to check the clay I have in the buckets because its in with the gravels so most like it will have some gold stuck to it now, will keep it seperate in the future though.
I did notice a couple of mullock heaps up stream a bit & also a couple hundred metres up the bank there is a very large heap, lots of quartz rocks around the area as well & layers of gravel wash full of quartz stones there too. Might head upstream a little further & pan near the mullock heap next time.

 

[nucopia]

Heres a good blog with lots on tips and info on prospecting.
http://www.bedrockdreams.com

 

[G0lddigg@]

Hey ozziii

Mate those top layera of sand can pay really well if you can process enough volume. Often the valleys around your creek/river have alot of fine gold/loam working its way to the surface which finds its way to the top wash zone. Think of a pile of sand with the light sand being blown off into the air then the fine gold concentrates on the surface. A decent bit of rain then picks this stuff ip and carries it down stream. It means theres goldnin them thar hills. Thats one scenario the other is up stream theres a decent deposit thats weathering away slowly and the fine gold is koving on down. There may be an old battery site or some extensive workings from a large bend these also deposit alot of fine gold. It does not mean there's good gold to be got at the bottom.

Only way to find out if to scout out a decent natural riffle running in your creek and dig that sucker to bedrock and then go a bit deeper. Smash a few inches of bedrock and pan. If the creek holds food yields youll find fractured flat gold in floor.

Hope that helps.

 

[cracka]

Also try digging through the clay layer and see if there is any gravel layer under it, could be ancient river wash from long ago under the clay layer. Also all clay is different, sometimes the gold only sits on the top of the clay (meaning thick solid impenetrable clay layer) however I have found really soft clay with gold found 6 inches into it and all through it. Keep test panning each level and each spot of you will learn the gold streak runs in a line at a certain depth. Hope this helps a newbie panner from a newbie panner, good luck mate.

Cracka.

 

[ozziii]

Thanks very much fella's, looks like a lot more testing & panning needs to be done. One thing I have noticed with some of the gravel I took home is some of the gold is slightly larger, got a couple mkre bucket to test out which came from slightly deeper but still above clay.
Many area's to try so will keep me busy for a bit.

 

[Bjay]

Sound like your on the right track Ozziii. Ya thinking about it and testing different levels. I'm in the same boat and haven't been at it long. Have learnt from trial and error that different creeks and even different parts of the creek can hold gold at different levels. The first part of the creek I am working most gold was down on the bedrock but only 10 meters downstream I only got very fine gold at that layer and the bigger stuff was in the top layers. Still got lots to learn but loving it.

 

[ozziii]

Yeah going to take some trial & error I think, although help on this forum make it easier. I panned some gravel from buckets I filled the other day, found a couple of slightly larger bits, was from the same hole but a little deeper but above clay still. Will test other stuff I have here in next day or 2, & also get back to creek to test. I'm going to first try a bit closer to the corner, maybe a metre & will try right behind a rock I'm digging about 2 feet behind at the moment.
Going to start doing 2 pans from 1 hole then move a little & do another 2 from another hole, probably just move a couple of feet for each hole.
I did notice it looks like someone has maybe done some panning at some stage upstream a little & there's a few spots I like the look of so will test them as well, would like to see of there is anything more than nust the real small & fine stuff around.

 

[pennyweight]

The reason your getting dust from top is, it must be hard pack. Coarse gold will travel in gutters and stop in crevices and sudden deep water drop off's. my advice is dig to bed rock and try find a crevice you might sink a duffer but that's part of prospecting. Remember the old timers built puddler's to break up and puddle the stiff clay. cheers

 

[AtomRat]

Pan the whole creek at intervals of 20m ozziii right in the centre of it and sample / pan each layer downwards till you hit the clay. Also sample a couple of inches of the clay too but can be tedious. Make certain that that clay you found IS the bottom. You can get false bottoms along sections of creeks which you dig through and onto gravel again. Look at the side walls of the creek and look for alluvial layers and vertical cracks / faults in the clay.

A clay creek have dug can hold good gold in a 10m stretch and then nothing for 300m in either direction decieving you to think no good gold is there. I can guarantee you will find a dip / gutter / hole that you will be weist or chest deep in with very nice gold.

 

[ozziii]

Thanks very much for that info, looks like I'll be spending a bit of time up the creek. Will diffinitely test right along the stretch above where I am now & will see how deep the clay goes as well. I have found some slightly larger, although still small bits of gold from the bucket of gravel I filled & it came from just behind a couple of rocks so going to dig that section wider & deeper to see how things go.
On the outside of the corner there is a deeper hole with steep bank, & upstream there looks to be a couple of section where there might be some dips & gutters or crevices in the rocks so I think I will have to start getting wet & checking some deeper sections as well.
Planning on a few days oit there this weekend so will see how things go, thanks again for all the help, it will make things much easier.

 

[AtomRat]

I mean a deep hole which is invisible to your eye and only found by digging and you will notice the clay bottom going deeper than the rest of the clay level as you dig. In general..if you can see a deep hole in the creek, chances are, gold is being blown out of it and downstream of the visible deep hole.

You certainly need to get wet if you can mate and get right in. The big gold unfortunately can't jump into our pans

By the way, I'm saying to hit the definate bottom for each hole just so you personally know how deep the clay is in each section. You don't want to do this as you will find, the best gold isn't always on the bottom ( especially if its been dredged )

 

[ozziii]

Aah ok, I get you now, it can all look reasonably level or flat on the surface of the creek bed but underneath can be low & high spots.
I'll see how I going digging some deeper holes in a few places, starting where I have already dug behind some rocks on inside of corner, atleast that should give me an idea on depth there & the sort of gold as I get closer to the corner & nearer the couple of rocks. Hoping to get out there tomorrow for a look if its not raining again.
Being that there is a smallish mullock heap up stream a little & some small diggings further upstream as well as a pretty big mullock heap up the paddock from the creek as well as a good amount of quarts around I would think I'm in with a chance of finding some decent specs in tbe pan, just need to keep digging. Might even take the detector for a quick swing on the heap near the creek.

 

[AtomRat]

Yeah mate that's right. You don't know what's under your feet until you go through it, or if you can see it in the walls at different water levels through the year. I'm no davinci but here's a random interpretation of a creek which flows constantly but also floods, with a clay bottom. Pockets and dips form everywhere, flood layers, false bottoms, multiple gravel + sand grades etc. A real puzzle for you to solve its not exact or a replica, but a mere diagram of what can happen in a creek. Also note the cracks in clay

If you can, I highly reccomend you sketch or log finds and depths on a map and analyze the creek if its a place you want to hang around for a while. Study all rocks you see in the creek and using exploration or geo maps, map where it all comes from. Its a lot of work but can pay out if you want to turn it into an artform

Gold can be found anywhere along the layers and deep spots like usual.

 

[ozziii]

Thankyou very much AR, your advice has been a big help & has been very helpful, & along with advice from other forum members has made a big difference to my learning new skills. Its given me a much better idea of what I'm doing & what to look for, just need more time in the creek now & with the new Banjo pan that should help me get a bit more testing done a little quicker, that pan really is a good little tool.
So I'll be heading down the creek to make music with the Banjo now,haha.
That sketch is vreat AR, thanks, I reckon I might have to do what you said & start making some sketches myself & record what I find, gold, clay, depth, gravel type etc, might be some extra work but should make alot of difference & will be great to learn from.
I will post pics when I can, only using mobile phone at the moment, just got new computer but my telstra wireless usb broadband won't work with windows 10, it won't connect to hotspot on my telstra phone either, have to wait for a wifi modem to be sent now. Thought telstra would have a problem like this sorted out by now but no, bloody useless.
Makes it a bit hard trying to research things on the net but hopefully next week it will be all going again.

 

[Rusty_G]

I agree with you AR 100%. Your last few posts have been spot on and are some good helpful and insightful posts. I to believe in thorough testing; all the extra details help you to stay on the decent Gold.
Just recently a mate and I have been up some rugged country and found a lot of fine flat Gold. How we did it was by testing at intervals on one trip...taking the time to observe the environment around the creek.
Second trip we went back to the most promising spot from the first trip and dug it down, test panning as we went. We found the layer with the best Gold. Next trip coming up is going to be chasing that layer left and right of our first hole and working more material...can't wait.
Hope my experience is a little food for thought.
cheers.
Rusty

 

[ozziii]

Slowly getting some gold together.

 

[numpty]

fantastic mate, thats gotta put a smile on ya face , all ya work is paying off nicely well done.

 

[TTKooAu]

That sure is the right colour ozziii !

*mental note to self - move out of SA*