Flood gold information and questions

[G0lddigg@]

so true Doc, this is a great tool in the prospectors arsenal.

My favourite excuse to go and and take photos of the creeks is during flood. Ive got photos of the water action all around ballarat during flood and if i go to an old spot that changed considerably since flood or council intervention i can usually still spot the concentration points.

thanks for the share.

here;s an example of an area i was working on the inside left when the water was low as this was literred with large rocks, but after this flood the water came up around 1.5 meters and you can see form the white wash where the aggressive water is, this stuff acts like a vaccume to the rets of the creek and as it tuns out loads up with pickers each year its not really a high point unless you've seen this. wish i had a photo of the water when it was down for contrast.

 

[Explorer385]

I think I must start looking at my prospecting spots through new eyes after reading these posts.

 

[Mackka]

Great stuff Doc. Found part 1 in the May section, all makes a great read.
Thanks again
Cheers
Mackka

 

[Dug]

Thanks mr duck that's a great read .

 

[beany89]

Ive got my 3 biggest nuggets while panning from using this technique. 2.14g, 0.8g, and 0.64g, to my suprise was all in the one pan Either they were put there by a large flood considering the crevice I attacked was around 5 metrrs above creek level also the creek is about 10m wide in the area so it must have been a huge flood!!! Great read ans highly recommended for all prospectors not just newbies like myself

 

[DrDuck]

That was some pan, Beany!

 

[beany89]

It sure was DrDuck I also got a few more around 0.2-0.4 from the same crevice!!! Yet to find another crevice like it. After reading on the high point gold I think ill spend most of my time up above the creeks. Was out on sunday and run 4 pans to get around 0.25gs. Not the most productive day by anyones standards but great fun none the less. Im keen to get out again this weekend with my hand winch and move some more big boulders out of the way and see whats down on the bedrock

 

[Picker]

Was out on Sunday inspecting an area arround ballarat (outskirts) looking for a spot to pan on a river, couldn't get to it. But on the way back to the car walking up the hill (probably 200 metres walk) I peered up the hill and saw a rock (which stood out because the hills aren't rocky). So went up to look at the rock and was surprised it was a huge lump of cemented river quartz pebbles rounded, arround a grey matrix (what they call pebble conglomerate). There were a few of these rocks. All near the top of a hill. Millions of years ago the landscape would of looked so so different no doubt!

 

[mervyn]

Hi guys I have taken the time to do my research and asked around about areas close to home and was informed about some gold producing areas so I went for a look around and come across what I think might be a spot really worth my while just after some advice about the best spots to dig first first I will attach some pics ASAP

 

[AtomRat]

Gday mervyn!, the only way to tell whats in the creek is to get a pan out and dig some dirt into it and see what it holds

 

[mervyn]

 

[mervyn]

 

[mervyn]

 

[mervyn]

So what do you guys think?? I got a few small specs with the pan but also got a lot of pyrite this kind of left me second guessing myself a bit but then I read that pyrite could be an indicator to better gold to be found although I'm not to sure how true that is...

 

[Jukebox]

Just dig behind the larger boulders in the stream - gold can get trapped behind large objects which disturb the path of the water flow.
They have written books and books about this stuff.

Honestly gold is where you find it - keep test panning and test panning.

BTW digging into the banks is generally frowned upon as is causes unnecessary degradation to the river banks, its not worth destroying a river to find $50 worth if gold.

 

[AtomRat]

A good start is searching Google to see if it was near a known goldfield

 

[mervyn]

Had no intention of digging into the bank as this is a really popular camping area and I don't want to destroy it. I was more so asking if this looks like a good area for me to make a start to my prospecting hobby as I'm only new to this. This is my first outing and all I own is a pan and a shovel atm so there will be no serious earth moving for me lol

 

[MJB]

Mervyn,

that looks as good a place as any to start finding some gold. The bank looks promising with those exposed wash layers but are a no go for digging. The gravel bar in the centre of the creek photo would be a good place to start digging. It looks as though it has built up from water running passed that big boulder in the middle of the creek. This is where you will find it and among cracks and crevices in the rocks.

Get back out there and sample the gravel bar and show us some pics of your finds.

Cheers

 

[GypsyGoldAu]

You could try having a look at "Loaming for Gold" by Sam Cash to get a better idea on where & how to look. fwiw

GGA

 

[mervyn]

Getting keen now the summer months are almost here!!