Sluicing how deep to dig?

[dirtdiggin]

Hi everyone

I know that there is a lot of experienced prospects on this forum that know a lot about this subject so I was just hoping for some of your expert advice Please.
Just wondering is there a rule of thumb how deep one should dig when panning/sluicing or highbanking is there one answer that's better then another?, I understand that gold is heavy so therefore it will sink down and if there's bedrock down there it will sit on that, but if there's no bedrock how deep should one dig? And is there a difference between the answer if in a creek bed to not being in a creek bed?

Thanks everyone for your time help and advice..

 

[Diggertom]

There's a lot of different answers, and depending on the ground the answer will change.

If your working a creek, with bedrock, general rule of thumb is get to the bottom. Test pan the layers, and in your highbanking it's worth processing anything more then 5-10 specs a pan.

That being said, some places the better gold will be on top, someone may of all already cleaned the bottom and it may just be flood gold on top.

Some places may just be impossible to hit the bottom as it will be to deep, I find anything over 2-3 foot for myself is near impossible if water is there as it will continue to cave in.

Outside the creek, it's just a matter of test panning each layer (each foot or so) till you find the good spot, then continue digging till it either runs out or you hit your depth limits (physically or legally).

 

[user 1769]

Hi dirtdiggin,

If there is no bedrock within a decent distance, your best bets are either finding a false bottom (preferably of clay), or moving to an area that has bedrock!

I'm only half serious, though. In most parts of the country where the bedrock is accessible, the old timers did a good job of getting most of the gold.

If you're setting up to sluice for a day, it's well worthwhile to spend some time panning prospects at different layers and different areas to get an idea of where the gold is, and how much you'd expect to get.

M

 

[Twapster]

Hey DD, in my experience for the most part the gold you are going to get easily is generally surface stuff. Take a creek area for instance, remove the usual boulder/ pebbles/rocks and see what's underneath. If its still coarse/gritty/sandy/airy stuff you know the gold has gone thru that layer. When you start hitting clumpy/clay like/compressed soil spots then you start seeing colour. In particular grey/green clay is a good indicator whereas brown (mud) is less of an indicator. Keep an eye on the bigger rocks if they have cracks/crevices in them. One finger scoop can have more than a whole bucket of soil as the gold can move and gets trapped.

Within about 6 inches of the compressed stuff is where you usually hit the honey, and will often find digging past that zone the gold disappears as quick as it came, however on occasion the small bits disappear and the occasional bigger "picker" reveals itself. If the area is very "pebble crete" size stones more than a foot deep.....you will usually have buckleys chance unless you dig 3 to 4 feet down as that stuff just doesn't trap gold. If you are pulling rocks away and seeing compressed soil and clay almost straight away, that's a good thing. That is an area you would "surface".

So in my opinion "surfacing" is more productive than digging to China, but its not a hard and fast rule. Once you find a productive surface spot, use a bar and dig a hole like you are going to put a post in. That you can do fairly quickly and allows a sample further down without too much effort. Sometimes you hit more rocks or a bottom, sometime you hit new layers, sometimes it fills up with water and you cant do much more.

Experience will often help as to whether you keep digging or just keep surfacing. Most of the time surfacing all day when you are getting "specs in every pan" is going to reward your vial at the end of the day using a high-banker.

Patience and excessive test panning is often rewarded. If you don't have time to test pan all day then it may be hit and miss but a fun day just the same. I hate test panning as it can become laborious when nothing is showing up and after about 15 pans you may want to chuck the pan away, but it may be that next pan that indicates an "omg" spot where 2 minutes earlier you were kicking rocks saying "there's no gold here". Don't be fooled by "i got a picker" in your first test and drop everything and start banking....no more gold for the rest of the day can be a possibility. If a few pans reveal similar then good to go.

Chances are if you are in a known gold location, its there and you just need to crack a spot. While you can test pan areas way away from water, if using a high-banker you need to have a water supply so that can be a constraint. You can have a top spot that is useless unless heavy rains allow better water access. Other spots the clay is nice and wet and easy to dig, a week later like concrete and therefore a no go. A good method of getting further up the hill is finding a spot where you can pump water from a water source to a secondary dry hole. I've done this before to allow high-banking away from the primary water source.

Good luck out there!

 

[Tathradj]

I am going to be working an old creek bed up the hill in Tuena this trip.
Twapster that is a brilliant write up mate and is along the lines of what I am going to do.
A test pan from the surface showed around 6 or 7 specks and it got me thinking of what was going on.
It takes a fair setup when you are pumping roughly 20 meters above your pump with a line of around
80 meters of hose out. Hence the remote throttle setup.
Test panning can save a lot of effort and also loaming out or digging test holes is the go to give you a general idea
of where the Gold is hiding.
Oallen is like that. Majority of colour is in the top 12 inches of gravel and if you hit a concealed bar the rewards are worth it.
But remember,
"Gold is where you find it".
Have Fun.

 

[Twapster]

Sounds interesting Tath, we may be working the same spot! lol

I'm keen to detect or highbank an area we found on the hill well away from the water, but had water worn boulders all around and very quatrzy / ironstoney (are they real words or did I just make them up?) :lol: :lol:

I think between us we have enuff hoses to pump up some water, looking forward to it.

 

[Beagleboy]

Good explanation twapster.

 

[dirtdiggin]

Thanks Twapster!! And everyone else!
Great bit of info there mate I very much appreciate your time and help with all that very informative information mate it's a great help and I'll certainly try out your suggestion next time out its great to hear from guys a lot more experienced then myself and as you touched on its just great to be out in the bush and the great outdoors enjoying the tranquility, nature and more so the peace and quiet unless running the highbanker lol myself and my wife just love it and also good to get the kids away from technology for awhile. Thanks again guys some great tips there that should help me out and even if we don't find much it's still a great day out all the same!!.
Cheers Dirtdiggin

 

[dirtdiggin]

There's a lot of different answers, and depending on the ground the answer will change.

If your working a creek, with bedrock, general rule of thumb is get to the bottom. Test pan the layers, and in your highbanking it's worth processing anything more then 5-10 specs a pan.

That being said, some places the better gold will be on top, someone may of all already cleaned the bottom and it may just be flood gold on top.

Some places may just be impossible to hit the bottom as it will be to deep, I find anything over 2-3 foot for myself is near impossible if water is there as it will continue to cave in.

Outside the creek, it's just a matter of test panning each layer (each foot or so) till you find the good spot, then continue digging till it either runs out or you hit your depth limits (physically or legally).

Thanks Digger Tom
I think we might be from the same area and prospect along the same creek hopefully might run into you some day what vehicle do you get out in along reedy creek if you don't mind me asking ? And thanks so much for your info and advice. I've heard good things about your concentrates you sell so congrats on that so you must be doing something right mate!! Do you have any vids or pics of your setup that you use? Hopefully in time I'll get my setup eg angles and drop off flowing better I guess it's all experience, and some expert advice never goes astray.
Cheers mate

 

[Diggertom]

A green Forrester, and no videos, but I'm more then willing to meet up with you and show you how mine works and see if I can offer any help on yours.

I'm up creek most days so just pm me if yor interested

DT

 

[AtomRat]

I'm going to throw in my two cents on this topic as it seems moving water, water in general or deep water can be a problem if you don't know how. The information was passed to me by an ex dredger, very knowledgable on digging and water flows. Also mixed with some of my own experience and input. This is how I sample an area.

He explained when I dig a hole that seems like it shows color ( get to this stage by following above posts, but in this case were in a flowing creek or river ) and make yourself a comfortable hole which is roughly a meter in diameter, keeping the walls as verticle as possible. Leave bigbigger rocks in the wall as they hold its structure in place and be felt by using your hands. While on your way through the rock to hit bottom, ( if you can ), test pan each layer / color change in the gravel. I use an underwater scope to preview the walls and floor if need be.

Once your in your nice hole standing on either clay or bedrock, which has been payable up to the 'fading point' you now work outwards. First choose any direction that seems likely, but pan it and see what you have got, starting from the top gravel and working down, still trying to keep the wall verticle. If flow and currentbis an issue, use sticks and logs to create a wall / temporary dam around your digging area and you should then be working in still water. One major reason for walls to cave in is wrong foot placement near, or coming out of the hole. Ill explain the solution in a second. If it doesn't look well in that direction, rotate either 45 or 90 degrees in your hole and do the same thing over until you find where the most gold is, what level it is on and what direction it could be heading. Eventually you should have a solid direction unless you are in a nice depression where gold has deposited. Once you find a direction you can then create a ramp out of your hole cutting away some rock not near your likely gold direction of course.

It comes down to constant panning or having a solution to see per-shovel results. I use rubber v-matting in my top hopper as I'm lazy now and I get to see how much gold is in each shovel. If you find that the color keeps coming, wether its a 5mm heigh by 10meter wide deposit or a 1meter tall by 1cm wide by 10m long deposit of gold, this is when your sampling is successful and the walls of a hole falling in is the least of your problems as your hole will become a trench or pool.

If bedrock or clay walls are visible parralell to the stream, you may want to inspect them for large cracks which would be under your feet as well. Digging out a deep crevice or crack mid stream is top priority for me but depending on where I am. I sometimes dig trenches horizontal or verticle with the stream and thought must be used first to make sure filling in the workings will be easy as well

When I'm in the mood and its summer, I dig big and deep. If it gets too deep, I've got a snorkel now 8)

 

[Jaros]

Thanks for passing on your knowledge AR. Great advice.
Jaros

 

[AtomRat]

Thanks for passing on your knowledge AR. Great advice.
Jaros

No probs, it was passed onto me not in whispers or secret but for good use. His name is Pete and taught me and helped me build my first sluice, also threw my flat base shovel in the bush in anger and gave me his pointy tip shovel to use as it digs a hell of a lot better in the compact rock and he hates to watch someone use the wrong tool for the job :lol: He is a true aussie prospector from back in the day and has a similar appearance of the bearded old bloke from The Majic Pudding hehe

 

[Twapster]

Thanks Twapster!! And everyone else!
Great bit of info there mate I very much appreciate your time and help with all that very informative information mate it's a great help and I'll certainly try out your suggestion next time out its great to hear from guys a lot more experienced then myself and as you touched on its just great to be out in the bush and the great outdoors enjoying the tranquility, nature and more so the peace and quiet unless running the highbanker lol myself and my wife just love it and also good to get the kids away from technology for awhile. Thanks again guys some great tips there that should help me out and even if we don't find much it's still a great day out all the same!!.
Cheers Dirtdiggin

No worries DD, many a prospecting trip with all the gear has turned out ..... not much prospecting, and a lot more just enjoying the great outdoors. I don't care if I come home with an empty vial, as long as I smell like campfire and my car is muddy I know ive had a great time. The hobby has made me look at holidays in a different way. Sure everyone loves a nice hotel, and a lot of people would think sleeping in minus 2 conditions is a sign of madness. Those that have done it know you can be as comfy as a bug in a rug if u have a nice mattress and a few extra blankets, and a warm campfire at night.....I do love my campfire!

Gold and Gems are the excuse, and a bloody good one at that.

 

[AtomRat]

Thanks Twapster!! And everyone else!
Great bit of info there mate I very much appreciate your time and help with all that very informative information mate it's a great help and I'll certainly try out your suggestion next time out its great to hear from guys a lot more experienced then myself and as you touched on its just great to be out in the bush and the great outdoors enjoying the tranquility, nature and more so the peace and quiet unless running the highbanker lol myself and my wife just love it and also good to get the kids away from technology for awhile. Thanks again guys some great tips there that should help me out and even if we don't find much it's still a great day out all the same!!.
Cheers Dirtdiggin

No worries DD, many a prospecting trip with all the gear has turned out ..... not much prospecting, and a lot more just enjoying the great outdoors. I don't care if I come home with an empty vial, as long as I smell like campfire and my car is muddy I know ive had a great time. The hobby has made me look at holidays in a different way. Sure everyone loves a nice hotel, and a lot of people would think sleeping in minus 2 conditions is a sign of madness. Those that have done it know you can be as comfy as a bug in a rug if u have a nice mattress and a few extra blankets, and a warm campfire at night.....I do love my campfire!

Gold and Gems are the excuse, and a bloody good one at that.

I just spent the night in the GT sleeping outside ( no tent or cover ) but on an airmatress which I discovrred had a hole. Keeping the fire going for warmth, rotation is needed otherwise one side of your body gets wet from the near or below 0 temps. If you have nothing you can always make something out of anything All that matters was I got sleep. Mightve been tough, but broken sleep was still successful to detect the next day. As an air mattresd goes down when your on dirt..your back touches the cold gt soil and its essential to keep of it to stay warm. I loved it all

 

[G0lddigg@]

THis is a great questions and great answers above, I cant add too much that hasn't been said accept i will say there are some areas which gold will drop out favorably and if you understand that by monitoring the flow over different seasons you will rarely dig in an area without gold.

In order for pay layers to form you need good deposition, deposition comes from a constant feed of alluvial gravels, understanding how gold is deposited into the system in the first place is significant i.e. is it eroding down the gullies from bedrock and is super fine working its way into the creeks? this fine powdery often granite pounded gold will tend to collect in the high flood deposits due to being upheld in solution by silt, it wont be on the bottom that's for sure.

**This is just under a gram panned from the upper inside bend of a creek held up by honeysuckles, deposit was fine sand note how the gold floats..... yes gold floats especially when contaminated after a flood

If you are in an area that is fed by deep leads you will fine that there is new heavy nuggety and often busted up reefy gold deposited right up out of the basalt columns, this type of gold will carry on the bedrock or clay/decomposing bedrock layer and it gets there rather quickly.

****heres an example of some gold got between two flat slate riffles 10 meters apart from the bottom*** indicator was crunchy gold all the way down

If you are in an area with course and rounded quartz and the shape of the creek changes with the season then you know that quartz will be busted open and more gold will be deposited from the quartz periodically.

Back to the original question, do i dig to the bottom?

Firstly look at the geology do you see natural riffles? bi rock bars? is the bottom soft or rough?

Smooth bottoms do not make good gold catchers, regardless of how good a deposit is it is much easier for gold to keep on moving even with a clay layer on a smooth bottom then it is settle during times of significant turbulence which is when it is most active.

Concentrating on rough bottoms can improve your chanced exponentially, it also makes cleaning the bottom all that much more difficult which is why we love it cos on occasion you can pull a nice picker that has been missed by every other prospector.

Thats not to say that you wont find a good deposit on a smooth surface either.... when is a smooth surface a good prospect?

a. when you have a thin section of creek which flushes clean in high volume period followed by a outward trend
excuse the crappy picture

b. When a smooth surface is followed by a large perpendicular natural riffle which i believe to be the best prospects. Gold finds it very hard to move up and over these shelves and working just one foot before these can prove very productive. These can be upward riffles or DROP riffles.... drop riffles like the one below are amazing!!! and when they cover the full width of a reek running downstream you can bet the downstream side will be in most cases the best place to start..... go to the bottom if you find a drop riffle especially after a long section of fast moving water.... hope this helps

 

[dirtdiggin]

Hi GOIddigg@

Thanks Mate for all that great info and photos of the area you had worked, you've put a lot of time and effort in that area there mate that's for sure, thanks so much for sharing all that!! some nice gold there also, obviously pays to do a thorough job!.

Thanks again mate for sharing that great info!!
Cheers Guys!!!

 

[YIPPEKAIAY]

I'm going to throw in my two cents on this topic as it seems moving water, water in general or deep water can be a problem if you don't know how. The information was passed to me by an ex dredger, very knowledgable on digging and water flows. Also mixed with some of my own experience and input. This is how I sample an area.

He explained when I dig a hole that seems like it shows color ( get to this stage by following above posts, but in this case were in a flowing creek or river ) and make yourself a comfortable hole which is roughly a meter in diameter, keeping the walls as verticle as possible. Leave bigbigger rocks in the wall as they hold its structure in place and be felt by using your hands. While on your way through the rock to hit bottom, ( if you can ), test pan each layer / color change in the gravel. I use an underwater scope to preview the walls and floor if need be.

Once your in your nice hole standing on either clay or bedrock, which has been payable up to the 'fading point' you now work outwards. First choose any direction that seems likely, but pan it and see what you have got, starting from the top gravel and working down, still trying to keep the wall verticle. If flow and currentbis an issue, use sticks and logs to create a wall / temporary dam around your digging area and you should then be working in still water. One major reason for walls to cave in is wrong foot placement near, or coming out of the hole. Ill explain the solution in a second. If it doesn't look well in that direction, rotate either 45 or 90 degrees in your hole and do the same thing over until you find where the most gold is, what level it is on and what direction it could be heading. Eventually you should have a solid direction unless you are in a nice depression where gold has deposited. Once you find a direction you can then create a ramp out of your hole cutting away some rock not near your likely gold direction of course.

It comes down to constant panning or having a solution to see per-shovel results. I use rubber v-matting in my top hopper as I'm lazy now and I get to see how much gold is in each shovel. If you find that the color keeps coming, wether its a 5mm heigh by 10meter wide deposit or a 1meter tall by 1cm wide by 10m long deposit of gold, this is when your sampling is successful and the walls of a hole falling in is the least of your problems as your hole will become a trench or pool.

If bedrock or clay walls are visible parralell to the stream, you may want to inspect them for large cracks which would be under your feet as well. Digging out a deep crevice or crack mid stream is top priority for me but depending on where I am. I sometimes dig trenches horizontal or verticle with the stream and thought must be used first to make sure filling in the workings will be easy as well

When I'm in the mood and its summer, I dig big and deep. If it gets too deep, I've got a snorkel now 8)

Hey mate when you say work outwards of the hole which direction back into the bank or towards the centre of the creekbed? Sorry if that sounds silly but just threw me off a bit that did

 

[AtomRat]

I'm talking about if your digging a hole in the middle of the creek or whever your hole is and digging out away from the hole. I'm also talking creeks which are at least 5 - 10m wide full of compact rock until bedrock / base. No where near an6 banks but I guess your coukd say you are digging in a direction towards the banks..but I've explained to rotate around your hole and pan a full 360 to know where to dig from your hole so you could be digging in a direction to a bank or your could be heading upstream or downstream, it all depends where you panning tells you to go. You may have to re-read it again slower, it your still stuck just ask again or drop me a pm

 

[Tathradj]

To me it would either be what my pan is telling me or which way the crevices are running.