help reading a creek ?

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madworld

Sam
Joined
Mar 16, 2015
Messages
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Location
Northern NSW
So after having no luck trying to find a definitive local area to pan I took off early this arvo and did the 2 hrs drive out to drake,
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i found a couple of spots that I thought might have been goers but no colour was found all afternoon and im now left with more questions than I started with ..
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Firstly when you find a spot you think worth investigating and you have dug down to bedrock, how do you clean the cracks out ? Seemed that everything I scraped up was either washing away or falling back down.. also does anyone use snorkel gear to see what they are doing ?
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Secondly when you find a hole in the bedrock is this more likeley to have some gold in it than a crack ? Or will the water current keep the hole clean usually ?
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Just as it was getting too dark to see very well I came across a part of the creek that had signs of someone else with the same idea as me .only ghey had left 1.5 metre deep holes everywhere. either im on the right track but just unlucky or the person before me has no idea either
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Can see the signs of diggings on the far bank with the gravel bank in close

Thought I had some pics of the layout of the creek, but cant find them, basically its sections of bedrock as pictured then widens out and the wider areas are full of washy granite and quartz chips up to 12mm ish tthen will narrow back into the section pictured above with crevices running both directions under the current .. am I right in thinking that these bare rock areas are worth exploration or should I stick with digging through the gravel areas
 
Not being aware of the type of gold I'll have a crack at stream dynamics angle.
Define the heavy indicators. In my areas this is ironstone. There will be a repeated pattern where the heavy material drops out of suspension. These areas are the same in all water courses.
Inside bends, where the area just past shallow and narrow moves into deeper and wider.
All too often I see people get caught up in bedrock crevices and all manner of theories. What you are searching for is the conditions where an accumulation of heavy materials is likely. Take a few minutes to visualize what the place looks like in full flood which is harder than it sounds and focus on the areas that go from fast flow to slow. Fast enough to pick up the gold and then slowing to allow release.
It can be the Centre of a creek, or on an uphill rise. These odd spots, not classically "defined theory" places may sometimes hold the best gold. Deep pools in a straight section are often least likely and those rounded crevices equally so. The rest is determined by flow especially in the area you've put up in your pics where large bedrock rock is big flat granite intrusions. The water will flow fast and sweep swiftly.
If in doubt use two methods. Start in the centre and work side to side, shallow to deeper in the gravels along the line drawn between the edge of the two closest bends up and downstream.
Second determine what "heavies" exist and where they group and sample there.
The closer to the gold source the better that advice will translate.
Have you had any show of colours yet?
 
Try a brush and shovel as silly as it sounds easily obtainable and legal to crevice and works a treat if you have the room to brush. Often yabby pumps are used to suck up the final crevice material.
 
May I also suggest trying a topic like;
"Prospecting and digging in Drake?"
Any locals will have a chance to comment. Best of luck mate I'm sure if it's in there you'll bang it out eventually!
 
thanks a lot goldtarget, I have had no signs of colour at all but today was my first time at this spot with a pan...
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judging by this picture I think I should find something once I can get up there for a full day or two so will give your tips a go .. tried visualising the water flow today .. its hard .. will take some string lines and a broader tool kit next time and see if I can crack this spot
 
Hey madworld,

That looks like a fairly small creek. My experience is that often in creeks that size the old timers did a pretty thorough job. Is it a creek that is known for producing in modern times? (Sorry, I know nothing about the area).

A second thing to look out for: It looks like granite bedrock. In my experience, hard granite weathers fairly smooth and doesn't trap a lot of gold. Look for places with slate bottom, or for rotten, soft granite/clay bottom or false bottom. The clay often grabs onto flaky gold and can be good to get an idea.
 
The reason I asked about the gold and colors is what is typical of the area? Having a good idea of type of deposits is going to go a long way to help.
The creek pics look a lot like Eldorado but the gold occurrence there is flour gold, at high levels. Sure finding a good spot is worth paying attention to defined theories but anyone can go and shovel enough volume through to take something home.

In other creeks where larger bodied gold is likely you need to define the search area into finding pockets of accumulated deposits. I would definitely sample pan where the previous diggings have been often people won't shovel crazy amounts without some degree of color.

If you have any trouble understanding what I wrote mate I can put up some hand drawn pictures. The line between bends is a figurative line, just being aware of where is likely to run should be enough. Funny old thing gold some days are easy some days not. Sample enough areas (persistence) and it will pay off.
 
Spot on for granite country mate.
I would be looking just above the creek on the inside of a bend or two.
 
Thanks guys, i bought home a bucket of gravel that I pulled out of the crevices and panned it with some very very fine showing of colour...tathradj, when you say try above the creek do you mean upstream or off to the side up the banks ? Thanks goldtarget I have found some pics online that made sense of what you were saying
 
Mbasko links are absolute top notch. Worth a print out and infinitely better than my babble. By the looks of the pics of the gold a good chance of flour and flood gold right up to some pickers if you find the heavies mate. Once your in the right material you'll be using the snuffer bottle regularly and be right on track to pick up on the gold just by looking at the material on the shovel. It's a long way from the clays and ironstone I play with but once you've got your eye in you'll see the gold count rise by knowing the right material to yield results.
 
Is flood gold the real small specks ? Big enough that you can feel them when you push them but still small as a pin head ? am guessing flour would be the really fine stuff almost like gold flake ?
 
Is there any chance of a pic of an example of an ironstone patch in a creek to look for? I often see rusty colored sludge in spots in various creeks but put it down to pollution run off. Do you mean patches of red stained soil..?
 
I think ironstone is an actual stone picker, never seen it where I am but also wouldnt know if i was kicking it aside but going by some threads on the forum if you have a detector you soon find the stuff everywhere .. perhaps quickest would be to google ironstone images and localities
 
Picker said:
Is there any chance of a pic of an example of an ironstone patch in a creek to look for? I often see rusty colored sludge in spots in various creeks but put it down to pollution run off. Do you mean patches of red stained soil..?

I've seen the odd little creek like that as a kid up north(but couldn't tell you if it's ironstone related),... maybe it's a type of algae(could still be iron related though ? ),... And welcome to the forum Picker(you can introduce yourself in here through the link below)
Just click start new topic over on the right hand side once you are in there.
https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewforum.php?id=18
 
Also madworld , have a look up on low tree branches for debris like plastic bags and grass and bits of other branches stuck there , these can show you the sort of height the water can rise to in flood and help you visualise where gold can be pushed around to settle.
 

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