when i dig....

[MaxGreenman]

hello, i have a question about digging, after my first weekend digging and finding about 3grams which im proud of anyway i found a nice little spot and got into digging, broke my cheapy spade first few minutes and carried on with my hands, the question, do i remove all the big chunky rocks first and leave a slurry of gravel and sand and dig it up once ive removed al the rocks, or should i remove the gravel and sand etc.. into my bucket for panning as i can get it?
i was wondering if the movement of the rocks an water eing disturbed would push the goldfurther down and away? i used my hands and cleared the area it was just the cracks and grooves i couldnt get into.
i guess the question is do i remove the bigger rocks before putting the mi in a bucket or not discriminate and throw it all in?
and how do i know if what i found has mercury on it?

 

[richo966]

wow good gold mate I think all rocks can have trace gold on them in gold regions but the best gold will be in the crevice clean all surface of the rocks some one made good post on cleaning crevices have a look for that link it will help a lot they talk about different ways of getting every last bit of gold not sure on mercury nasty stuff

 

[G0lddigg@]

congrats mate thats bloody good gold for your first weekend digging.
To answer your question you ahve to assume that if there is gold in the area that gold will at some time be washed over those rocks and if it settles gold can only go as far down as it can, i.e. if a rock happens to stop it it aint going any further without that rock being tumbled around. as a rule of thumb I always try to lift big rocks out slowly to hold any clay or sediment buildup until I'm over a bucket of highbanker.
Without a doubt when your digging gold is working its way down deeper into the hole cant be helped really just do your best to lift it out and rescue the little buggers. You will find over time you'll accumulate lots a different spades, crevice shovels, spoons etc to have in your kit, makes it easier to lift material from tighter spaces.

Gravity is a bitch work with it not against it is my advice.