Loaming is an age old process and the equivalent of modern day Geochemical analysis!
In loaming, our aim is to test the first 50mm of top soil (loam) for fine flour gold, we are not concerned with larger gold here!
Why?.....because our eventual aim is to find an 'existing' deposit, and if a deposit exists, it will surely be continually releasing fine gold year after year and depositing it in the top layer of ground under wind, rain and other forms of erosion.
Yes, it will release coarser gold as well, but the very fine gold will be released more often, and in larger quantities, but will remain closer to the source than the coarser gold will. (The bigger and heavier you are, the further you will travel under the laws of Physics)
If your finding nuggets in a patch with your detector, but on testing the 'loam' soil for fine color with your pan there is nothing, then yes....you are either still to far from the source 'OR' the source has most likely already been exploited (as stated above) in the last 150 years or so and these nuggets were more than likely shed from that original source a longer time ago.
The metal detector is indeed used as a modern day loaming tool, but it is by no means the complete process, and it cant tell you if a source still exists or not, primarily because its only used to find larger gold.
The old timers got very excited when they had what was known as a 'corner of gold' or a 'dwt' of very fine flour gold in their pans because these large amounts of VFG was a sure sign that they were very close, or actually on top of an existing deposit.
Deposits of gold come in many forms, they may be in hard rock reefs, in pockets (Magma chambers), in patches etc, etc.
Loaming is not just limited to finding a primary source deposit..........Testing the first 50mm of loam with a pan for traces of fine gold is used today by the smart prospectors to also help them find the larger 'patches' of gold that may exist, which they can then exploit with a metal detector.
HTY, as others have said, its a very laborious and time consuming process that not everyone is willing, or able to undertake, but done correctly and mastered, it is a sure process that old Sam Cash used to discover hundreds of gold mines in WA.
Also, what does one do if they are lucky enough to actually find an existing deposit? Do you have the time, the know-how and the equipment needed for extraction......is the deposit economically viable for extractive purposes?
Is it worth the money and effort in obtaining an ML?
What is the deposits quantitative assay in grams per tonne?
Surprising to many, this can be fairly accurately determined simply using a pan, a partical size chart and a 'colors count' method.
Alternatively, if your unable or unwilling to extract, would the larger mining companies be interested in purchasing your newly discovered deposit from you, based on this g/tonne assay?
I have a book called 'Loaming in the 21st Century' written by a very smart WA geologist named Dr Robert Fagan.....its in digital format (PDF) so i can email to you if your keen HTY.
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