Is this method of alluvial prospecting good?

[Gambusino]

This person says that it is necessary to make panning samples every certain amount of feet. in this graph he divided them in six parts to be able to find the pay streak.

I have the doubt if there is another better method, I mean if it will be necessary to look beyond the first and last zone or if it can be done with less samples. or if there is another more advanced graphical method, like coordinates.

 

[Jaros]

Why would you prospect at the top of the unless you know that the gold is there. It usually sinks or gets washed to the lower regions of the hill.

 

[Detecta]

It's not a hill, it's a bend in a river.

 

[HippyProspecting]

I see nothing wrong with the method used in the diagram.
I would do even more sampling 1m up river and 1m down river.

Test pan, test pan and test pan some more

 

[casper]

This person says that it is necessary to make panning samples every certain amount of feet. in this graph he divided them in six parts to be able to find the pay streak.

I have the doubt if there is another better method, I mean if it will be necessary to look beyond the first and last zone or if it can be done with less samples. or if there is another more advanced graphical method, like coordinates.

Actually, it's all about sampling whether it be a hill or a river.
The long answer first - the definition of prospecting is "the search for minerals" and you can take either a methodical or a scatter approach in your pursuit of it. Your diagram depicts the methodical approach to discovering the presence and concentration of gold in a waterway. Typically after the alluvial deposits were depleted in the Rush then the "old timers" would move to look for the origin of the gold that ended up in the waterway, and this search was done by way of methodically sampling the dirt on the surrounding hillsides and test panning these samples to lead them to the origin which might be an outcropping reef, this methodical process is called "loaming".
The short answer - I'd say methodical sampling is "best practice" and in a waterway, I'd spend all my panning and sluicing efforts in the zones with the highest speck count and then work up or down the watercourse following the concentration of gold. I might also look beyond the watercourse for the origin of the gold by loaming.

 

[sand surfer]

verry good advice casper, you are right on the money
casper said
The short answer - I'd say methodical sampling is "best practice" and in a waterway, I'd spend all my panning and sluicing efforts in the zones with the highest speck count and then work up or down the watercourse following the concentration of gold. I might also look beyond the watercourse for the origin of the gold by loaming.

 

[Hawkear]

Hi Gambusino. Is that the Olmue in Chile? A special welcome and hope our Aussie gold prospecting experience can be helpful.
I would imagine some of the rivers coming down from the Andes would exceed our creeks in size and volume. Large water flows may have carried large numbers of small gold specks far from their origin
Caspers advice above would be the best we would generally offer.
The only other thing I would add would be that if you are planning a large dredging or sluicing operation then do as Caspar suggests a methodical approach which would involve taking samples not only across but also up and down stream and build up the set of coordinates into a matrix.
That would involve more time and effort in taking larger number of samples, but you could estimate the amount of recoverable gold and the viability of your planned operation.
If on the other hand you are just planning a small scale hobby type operation, again as Caspar said start from your best spot and monitor as you go.

 

[DALEO8]

Look for a book called sampling for gold by Sam Pang it's the best book I know of its available in a 4th edition

 

[mbasko]

Look for a book called sampling for gold by Sam Pang it's the best book I know of its available in a 4th edition

Do you mean Loaming for Gold by Sam Cash?

 

[grubstake]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Pang

 

[grubstake]

 

[Gambusino]

Look for a book called sampling for gold by Sam Pang it's the best book I know of its available in a 4th edition

yes, i have read on forums that mention this book a lot. i have been thinking about acquiring it. the most common thing here are hills and it strikes me that people are so uninterested in starting to look for loda in these places.

Actually, it's all about sampling whether it be a hill or a river.
The long answer first - the definition of prospecting is "the search for minerals" and you can take either a methodical or a scatter approach in your pursuit of it. Your diagram depicts the methodical approach to discovering the presence and concentration of gold in a waterway. Typically after the alluvial deposits were depleted in the Rush then the "old timers" would move to look for the origin of the gold that ended up in the waterway, and this search was done by way of methodically sampling the dirt on the surrounding hillsides and test panning these samples to lead them to the origin which might be an outcropping reef, this methodical process is called "loaming".
The short answer - I'd say methodical sampling is "best practice" and in a waterway, I'd spend all my panning and sluicing efforts in the zones with the highest speck count and then work up or down the watercourse following the concentration of gold. I might also look beyond the watercourse for the origin of the gold by loaming.

I will try to do it that way. i just want to make samples to end up using a sluice that i recently acquired.

Hi Gambusino. Is that the Olmue in Chile? A special welcome and hope our Aussie gold prospecting experience can be helpful.
I would imagine some of the rivers coming down from the Andes would exceed our creeks in size and volume. Large water flows may have carried large numbers of small gold specks far from their origin
Caspers advice above would be the best we would generally offer.
The only other thing I would add would be that if you are planning a large dredging or sluicing operation then do as Caspar suggests a methodical approach which would involve taking samples not only across but also up and down stream and build up the set of coordinates into a matrix.
That would involve more time and effort in taking larger number of samples, but you could estimate the amount of recoverable gold and the viability of your planned operation.
If on the other hand you are just planning a small scale hobby type operation, again as Caspar said start from your best spot and monitor as you go.

Yes, it is indeed the Olmué of Chile. The search for gold in Australia is the most similar to how it should be done in this area, at least the central area of Chile due to the amount of streams. The rivers with flow are already more to the south of the country and these days with a lot of flow due to the rains.

in this area there has been a drought for a few years, it is difficult to find water but I hope that the streams can have water this time. however it is a gold zone and that helps.

Unlike Australia, we do not have a gold culture, people do not know how to look for gold, or rather they do not go out to look for it. many people believe that there is no more gold but if there is, they give up.