Looking for Gold

Gold prospecting is the act of searching for new gold deposits. Methods used vary with the type of deposit sought and the resources of the prospector. Although .
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Such breccias are formed in faults or by the release of gas under pressure which produces a breccia pipe. Note the difference between the breccia with angular rock fragments left and the Tertiary-age about 30 million years old paleoplacer with rounded pebbles below left and the stretched pebble conglomerate very old paleoplacer nearly 2 billion years old below right All three can contain gold. Many veins have sporadic gold values with localized ore shoots enriched in gold. Some of these shoots may be enriched to times the average value of the vein.

The challenge given the prospector is how to recognize these shoots. Ore shoots can be structurally or chemically controlled. Chemically controlled ore shoots may occur where there was a chemical reaction between the mineralizing fluids and country rock. Any where an igneous rock hot comes in contact with a reactive rock such as limestone is a great place to find gold and other minerals. Paleoplacer with stretched pebbles from the Medicine Bow Mountains, WY These ancient stream deposits were later deformed under great pressure that flattened and stretched the pebbles in the rock.

Such rock sometimes contain gold, uranium and even diamonds - basically any type of heavy mineral that would have been carried in rivers more than 2. When searching for structurally controlled ore shoots, it is necessary to look for places where one would expect the pressure to have decreased along vein systems. Some structurally controlled ore shoots are found in folds. Many fold closures in gold-bearing veins will be enriched in gold. Another type of structurally controlled ore shoot includes vein intersections.

Some intersections of gold-bearing veins have been dramatically enriched in gold. The shear zone in the background is rich in gold [average grade reported at 0. Although not visible to the untrained eye, this giant gold-bearing structure lies in a large fold in the shear. The ore zone is feet long, nearly 1, feet wide and continues to a minimum depth of feet and likely a few thousand feet deep. There are many other types of structurally and chemically controlled ore shoots. For example, while prospecting in the Gold Hill district in the Medicine Bow Mountains of Wyoming, I noted gold was almost exclusively found in veins adjacent to amphibolite.

The same veins in quartzite were unproductive. Additional information on ore shoots can be found in various books on economic geology and ore deposits see Earll and others, ; Evans, ; and Peters, Most people have a difficult time identifying gold at first. Gold is very heavy! It is 15 to 19 times heavier than water, it is malleable it will easily scratch with a pocket knife , and has a distinct gold color that does not tarnish.

Most people mistaken mica, pyrite fool's gold , or chalcopyrite copper-fool's gold for real gold. These latter minerals are brittle and will crush to a fine greenish black powder. But don't be fooled. Some pyrite fool's gold may contain up to 30 parts per million gold hidden in the crystal structure about an ounce per ton. To test for this gold, you will either have to assay, or powder the pyrite and pan it for gold. And chalcopyrite may have as much as 20 parts per million gold hidden in its crystal structure.

Large specimen of mica muscovite shows a mirror-like surface, bronze-color, and will break into tiny pieces by a pocket knife unlike gold. Tiny mica flakes will easily move around in a gold pan while panning. As you pan, if the gold material stays flat on the surface of your pan and is difficult to move, it may be gold.

However, if it moves easily, rotates or spins in the water, it is not gold. Mica is hard to pan out of a gold pan simply because it is essentially 2-dimensional and will cut through the water like a knife. Gold in the pan is angular, heavy and a brightly yellow-gold color. It does not have mirror-like surfaces and will stay put in the pan. Pyrite will crush to a greenish black powder and the same with chalcopyrite photo of gold from Dickie Springs, Wyoming courtesy of Dr.

The search for productive gold deposits requires a good background in prospecting and economic geology as well as some luck. However, there are literally hundreds of occurrence and deposits in nearly every state in the West including Alaska. The best way to begin prospecting is to get a book that describes the gold mines and placers and visit these as I have found there are always many deposits near old gold mines that have been overlooked.

This is how I found more than a hundred gold deposits and anomalies. An understanding of geology also helps: I found an entirely new gold district Rattlesnake Hills in the early s that was missed by everyone else, simply because of the geology. It had very favorable geology and is currently being explored and drilled by several companies even though I discovered this district nearly 30 years ago! I was also on the discovery team of the giant Donlin Creek gold deposit in Alaska. Part of our discovery team Rob Retherford, Bruce Hikock, Toni Hinderman had recognized that some place gold at Donlin Creek was like corn flakes, very angular.

Yet this discovery occurred all the way back in and the gold deposit, considered one of the largest in the world, still is not being mined but is under exploration. So, get hold of books in your area that describe where gold deposits are found. Pick out the exciting areas and look at the deposit described in a book and look around for what the old prospectors missed they missed a lot!

Search for publications at your local geological survey usually they have a few good publications. If you are in Wyoming, I published numerous books that are available on the Internet, the University of Wyoming bookstore and the Wyoming Geological Survey. In particular, get copies of Bulletin 68 and 70 and Report of Investigations If in Arizona , there are likely hundreds of lode gold deposits that have been missed because of so many eluvial placers with no reported gold source the gold came from somewhere!

Colorado and California have hundreds of possibilities, but personally, I would look in Arizona, Wyoming, Montana and Alaska. Myself and my son Eric who is also a geologist, are currently writing a couple of books on gold and we will tell you exactly where to look. And enormous gossan exposed at the United Verde mine in Arizona. This property was mined for copper, gold, silver and zinc over many decades and then it was closed. Was it mined out? No - few mines are ever mined out.

It is just that the economics prior to the s made it uneconomic to mine. It is reported that the former miners did not recover the low-grade zinc and copper ore that likely contains more than a million ounces of gold. Remember, old mining districts often contain many opportunities.

Fisher dredge on Rock Creek, South Pass, Wyoming showing unmined ground While you are looking for gold deposits, remember, there are probably just as many if not more gemstone and diamond deposits that have been missed by prospectors and geologists. I recently found a major field of cryptovolcanic structures that are likely diamondiferous kimberlites sitting right along Interstate 80 west of the State Capitol of Wyoming.

With a good arm, one could probably hit some of these with a rock next to the interstate. These remain unexplored and were just discovered a couple of years ago! Some of these are so obvious, that it makes one wonder what everyone has been doing. Take for instance the Cedar Ridge opal deposit. Probably the largest opal deposit in North America was sitting right on the side of the main highway to Riverton, Wyoming and exposed in numerous road cuts in an oil and gas field and in a pipeline - but totally overlooked. Even after the announcement of this major field in , it still remains pretty much unexplored!

This deposit contains opals in road cuts that weigh more than , carats and has common, fire and precious opal and some spectacular 'Sweetwater' agates. How anyone could have overlooked this, is beyond comprehension. But it sat there for several million years, untouched, other than a few brief mentions of the presence of opalized rock in old USGS reports! Then there is likely the two largest colored gemstone deposits on earth that I found at Grizzly Creek and Raggedtop Mountain in the Laramie Range.

How these can remain essentially untouched is beyond my understanding. The other deposit may host as much as 2. For those of you who wonder - I do not have claims on any of these, it was considered unethical when I was employed at the WGS Although, today I am a consultant. Stacked pay gravel on Rock Creek placer, South Pass. Note the distinct clay and silt false bedrock layer.

The gold occurs in the gravels above and below the false bedrock. The clay and silt represent a very dry period. There are many placer and lode deposits to be found, although the discovery of entirely new mining districts is rare. In all my years as an exploration geologist, I have only been able to find one new gold district. However, I have found many gold deposits within known districts and you should be able to do the same armed with a little knowledge. Some of the better areas to search for gold are historical mining districts. In my experience, it is rare that any ore deposit has been completely mined out.

Many historical and modern mines still contain workable mineral deposits as well as nearby deposits that have been overlooked. Many well-known giant mining companies of the past were notorious for overlooking significant ore deposits and ignoring others. Thus, one could potentially make a living just following up on the exploration projects of many of these past giants [as well as some projects of present giants].

Now if you get out in the field and forget your rock hammer - you may have a problem. This is of course if you have not kept up on your karate lessons. In Arizona, we try to keep up with our martial arts classes. Note the brassy color not gold colored. Pyrite is brittle and the upper photo shows crystalline cubic.

Upper specimen from the Lost Muffler gold prospect,. Rattlesnake Hills and lower specimen from the Pickwick. But don't throw them away: Nevada Bureau of Mines Bulletin 66, p. Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology Bulletin 99, p. Elsevier, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, p. Wyoming Geological Survey Bulletin 68, p.

Geological Survey of Wyoming Report of Investigations 44, p. Wyoming State Geological Survey Bulletin 70, p. International California Mining Journal, v. Lost Treasure Magazine, July, p. Wyoming State Geological Survey Bulletin 71, p. John Wiley and Sons, New York, p. Specimen of chalcopyrite in quartz with green malachite and silver-colored specularite from the Kurtz-Chatterton mine a great, unexplored, gold prospect from the Sierra Madre, Wyoming.

The chalcopyrite is the brassy-orange material in the specimen. Some chalcopyrite can contain as much as 20 ppm Au a considerable amount of gold equal to about 0. Just hit a rock and you will smell garlic? No, it was not that Italian prospector standing up wind from you - it was most likely the smell of arsenic from the arsenopyrite that you just hit with your rock hammer. Arsenic-pyrite, or arsenopyrite, often is found around many gold or silver deposits and can hold up to 1, ppm gold 32 ounces per ton hidden in its crystal structure. Whenever I find arsenopyrite, I have it assayed.

Sometimes the mineral will assay high in silver, such as at South Pass. At Donlin Creek, Alaska , both arsenopyrite and stibnite yield high gold assays. Thus, arsenopyrite is a good guide to precious metals. The rock above contains considerable prismatic, silver gray metallic arsenopyrite with scorodite reddish brown to yellow oxidized arsenopyrite.

Where to Find and What to Look for When Gold Prospecting and Panning | HobbyLark

Cuprite earthy red , malachite green and tenorite black from the Sunday Morning prospect, Seminoe Mountains, Wyoming. These minerals can all contain some silver and gold in their crystal structure. Spray cuprite and tenorite with dilute hydrochloric acid and rub a well used rock hammer in the wet mineral and it will replace the worn parts of your hammer with native copper. Gold from Rock Creek at South Pass.

Green malachite, a copper carbonate, often contains anomalous. Azurite blue , tenorite black and cuprite red - classical copper minerals. Don't make the mistake many prospectors do - collect these pretty minerals without having some assayed. Copper minerals often contain gold hidden in the mineral or replacing some copper atoms in the crystal lattice. They also contain silver more often than not. Not all assayers are created equal. Do some research and check on an assayer before using them. Posted by The Gem Hunter at Friday, October 23, Rock Hounding and Prospecting.

Hey, is that Tony Beets down there? You can start today! You can be a rock hound and a gold prospector! The nice thing about this hobby is you can start right away and slowly pick up more and more information as you learn about your hobby. Some people progress to the stage where they collect a large variety of rocks, while others may just focus on a particular type of rock or mineral. Some sell rocks as specimens, others hoard them like me and still others polish stones in a rock tumbler and market the polished rock, or make jewelry from the stones.

But you don't have to sell these rocks, its up to you, but the more you collect, the more you research, the more educated you will become. Many rock hounds join different clubs and associations so they can keep up on local and regional rock hound shows, field trips and lectures. Just search the internet for 1 rock hound groups, 2 prospecting clubs, and 3 treasure hunters in your area. Rock hounding can make a nice combination with gold prospecting, gem prospecting , diamond hunting and gold panning.

Gold nuggets from Douglas Creek, Wyoming and hey, do you see that little reddish garnet? Gold prospectors should always be on the lookout for this type of garnet. Start your hobby by looking for books. I recommend mine of course. I've published many books on gemstones , diamonds, gold, rocks and minerals.


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A partial list of my publications can be found at Gem Hunter, the author. And while you are at it, you will probably need a nice sketch for your living room, or a few karate lessons so you can learn to break rocks with your hands. Then there are some articles I wrote for the Prospecting and Mining Journal. Let's see, have I covered everything - oh yeh, most of my publications are not available for sale, so you will have to get most from a library. Yes, I consult, but only for companies. Sorry, I don't consult for individuals. When I accepted employment with the Wyoming Geological Survey, he contacted me and I immediately drove to his house outside of Saratoga Wyoming where he showed me these two gem-quality diamonds.

I was surprised no one else showed interest. Collins Colorado and recovered many diamonds with gold from the stream placer. You will need some equipment when you are rock hounding and prospecting. My choice is Miners. Aerial Photos and Maps. Search the internet, there are some sites with good aerial photos.

Check out prospecting clubs near you as you can get some valuable information from them. Check out the GPAA and others. There is nothing better than on-hands experience. So get out and start picking up rocks and learn what they are and don't just throw them at your neighbor anymore. Rock Hounding Wyoming modified and revised with permission from Planet News. Wyoming was considered the poorest of all states for gemstones and rocks until recently - it even had a worse reputation than Florida and Louisiana for rock hunting - two states that have practically no rocks - just a lot of limestone, dirt and swamps — so what happened?

It started in At the time, Jade was king. Impressive jade boulders were found near Jeffrey City in central Wyoming, but otherwise, nothing of note had been found in the Wyoming cow pastures other than a few agates, jasper, coal, oil, gas, bentonite and uranium. Several tiny microscopic diamonds were found by accident! McCallum went on to make a name for himself and became respected internationally as one of the top diamond researchers in the world - so what did Colorado State University do to this productive geologist - they gave him the boot.

McCallum also brought to light that Wyoming had a major palladium and platinum deposit at the New Rambler west of Laramie. So, the seeds were planted and discoveries were made. But what CSU moron let this geologist go? Wyoming never looked back after these discoveries. Then another geologist came on the scene. This geologist dreamed of treasure.

For the next 30 years, he made new discoveries nearly every year! Imagine one person making new discoveries over 3 decades in a place where only the deer and the antelope roamed. We'll just refer to him as the Professor. He put Wyoming on the map! People usually get the impression everything has been found.

Discoveries were made in Wyoming every year from to because of the Professor. When he left Wyoming - the discoveries dried up - not a single discovery has been reported since ! But the Professor was not alone. Diamonds were accidentally discovered in , and more than 40 diamond deposits known as kimberlite pipes were found along the Colorado-Wyoming border. In addition, more than high-quality crypto volcanic anomalies were found by the Professor that suggest Wyoming, Colorado and Montana are underlain by a diamond province of unparalleled size.

Now here's where you come in. As a prospector and rock hound, start researching these and Walla - you may become the next DeBeers! Back to the Professor. While working for an international diamond company, he found another group of 50 depressions along Interstate 80, within sight of the state capitol. Are these diamond pipes? They sure look like they could be. But to this day, they still have not been drilled or sampled. Before finding these depressions, the Professor was looking for diamonds in the Leucite Hills near Rock Springs but he found another gemstone everyone else missed.

He took 13, carats along with many angry ants from their anthills and from outcrop at Black Rock - this was the first time peridot had been described in Wyoming! And now, many rock hounds have taken advantage of his discovery and collected this beautiful gemstone. In , he predicted gold would be found near Casper - simply by studying the geology. This became one of the more impressive finds in the past century in Wyoming, and will end up in a major gold mine some day.

Imagine you are a gold prospector. You find a gold deposit! How do you feel? Well the professor not only found a gold deposit, he found a whole new gold district that everyone else missed. Gold districts have many gold deposits with similar deposits in a small geographical area and the Professor predicted this one would also have a major gold deposit along with many other gold deposits. This became known as the Rattlesnake Hills gold district. Geologically, it is what geologists call a greenstone belt also known as gold belts in Australia, Canada and Africa.

Not only did the professor find the Rattlesnake Hills greenstone belt , he found gold at several other locations and then mapped the South Pass greenstone belt and Seminoe Mountains greenstone belt and not only found gold in these belts, but also in the Elmers Rock greenstone belt. We may never know how many gold deposits the Professor found, but it is clear he found dozens! And with the mapping of the greenstone belts, the GemHunter also provided a clear picture of Wyoming greenstone belts or gold belts. George Snyder and the GemHunter Professor Hausel gave future generations a picture of Wyoming's Precambrian geology that simply did not exist before these pioneers.

Following the discovery of several significant gold anomalies at the Rattlesnake Hills greenstone belt, mining companies and consultants flocked to the area to explore and discovered other gold deposits. After more than 3 decades of drilling, a significant, large-tonnage, low-grade gold deposit was found at Sandy Mountain: A large 34 ounce gold nugget recovered from Rock Creek. The Professor predicted at least two generations of gold deposits would be found in this greenstone belt - gold associated with very old Archean age greenstone rocks and gold associated with replacement deposits, breccia pipes, and with younger volcanic rocks Tertiary age.

In other words, the Rattlesnake Hills has the best of both worlds. And the associated breccia pipes related to younger volcanic rocks are similar to gold deposits mined at Cripple Creek , where more than 23 million ounces of gold have been mined. Following the GemHunter's discoveries, a few companies drilled. ACNC found more gold: Another company recently began exploring Sandy Mountain and hit more gold! It looks like they could have another Cripple Creek. The Professor felt he had found a giant breccia pipe between Sandy Mountain, Oshihan Hill and Goat Mountain - the mother lode but could not get funds from Wyoming to drill.

The Professor wrote about many of his discoveries in more than books , papers, and abstracts and was in demand for talks and lectures and traveled all over North America to mining conferences and to visit various rock hound groups to tell the rest of the world about Wyoming. It could easily be argued that no one in Wyoming had been more productive in the historic past when it came to increasing our understanding of Wyoming's mineral resources. Not only did we find quartz with visible gold using this book, we came across people who attended some of the Professor's field trips and had picked up specimens that should be in museums.

The Professor gave his free time to teaching others about geology and prospecting in more than a hundred field trips and free seminars. Because of the Professor, Wyoming became Rock Hound heaven. Mining gold from the dry placers at Dickie Springs. Love's research south of South Pass.

It could be one of the largest gold deposits in the West. So what did the State of Wyoming do, they purchased it for an undisclosed amount with your taxes and made it into a picnic ground so no one could ever mine it again! Now we see the footprints of Dr. Love made many discoveries and is best known for his work on uranium as well as putting together a detailed geological map of Wyoming. In the South Pass area, he and two other members of the US Geological Survey researched the Oregon Buttes area to the south of South Pass and predicted based on sampling and drilling that this area has It all remains mostly untouched.

An honest to goodness rush followed as hundreds of geologists and prospectors flocked to the area. Then he went to Alaska as a geological consultant in and for West Gold thanks to his friend Dr. While searching for gold , one of the largest gold deposits in the history of North America was found. Seven geologists three from Wyoming found a gold deposit that now is reported to contain more than 41 million ounces of gold! The Donlin Creek deposit, when mined, will produce 1. To give a proper perspective of how huge this gold deposit is, particularly those who are fans of the reality show GOLD RUSH , the Donlin Creek discovery is so enormous that it contains more than twice the amount of gold mined throughout the entire history of the Yukon!

It also contains more than times the amount of gold mined in Wyoming throughout its entire history! So, my advice to any prospector: Over the years, prospectors and treasure hunters found many gold nuggets in Wyoming. Another treasure hunter from Colorado found more than nuggets in Wyoming, another from Arizona recovered nuggets in the Sierra Madre, and then there was a 34 ounce nugget found in the s and a boulder full of gold found before then. Yes, there is gold in the Windy state.

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But there is more. In , the Professor found platinum, palladium, gold and nickel at Puzzler Hill near Saratoga. How did everyone else miss this and all of the other discoveries - such as the largest iolite deposits and samples found on earth? But when the GemHunter focused on gems, he made history, and there is little doubt if he had remained in Wyoming, dozens of more gemstone and gold deposits would gave been found by now.


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Extraordinary jade from Wyoming Several diamond deposits, pyrope, chrome diopside, peridot, spessartine, kyanite, ruby, sapphire, apatite, helidor, aquamarine, giant jasper deposits, common opal, fire opal, amethyst, precious opal, iolite - gems that were not suppose to be in Wyoming were found by the GemHunter.

The discovery of gold in the Rattlesnake Hills and in Alaska were quite impressive discoveries, but then there were the fabulous and world-class iolite gem deposits found in the central Laramie Range. It is said, that it is extremely rare for a person to find one world-class deposit - after all, there have only been a few dozen found throughout history.

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Yet, the Professor was part of the discovery team that found a world-class gold deposit in Alaska, he found a major gold district in the Rattlesnake Hills and then he found two world-class iolite deposits. He also identified significant gem kyanite deposits, a significant fire opal deposit even though common opal had been mentioned in passing in the area by geologists of the USGS in the s and mapped opal and agate in parts of sections of land, and then he mapped the two largest diamond-bearing kimberlite districts in the US, discovered a formerly unknown kimberlite district Sheep Rock district , mapped the largest lamproite field in North America, and mapped the square mile South Pass greenstone belt, the Seminoe Mountains greenstone belt, the Rattlesnake Hills greenstone belt, the Cooper Hill district and parts of the Silver Crown gold-copper district.

In total, he mapped more than square miles of geology in Wyoming. At the time of discovery, this iolite specimen was the largest, single iolite. The gem weighed 1, carats and found by. Some of the first iolite and ruby gems. Then he came across the Sherman-Raggedtop iolites. Based on geology, this one could potentially host more than 2 trillion carats of iolite! But the Professor moved on before much could be done on this deposit after he discovered it. But based on exploration prior to the second world war, the Wyoming Geological Survey had estimated that this deposit contained more than , tons of cordierite - it was all assumed to be industrial grade.

So, the GemHunter went searching and found very high-quality gem iolite along the edge of the deposit - every specimen he collected was a gemstone. Thus, if only part of this deposit is gem-quality, we are talking about trillions of carats of gemstones! Almost enough to pay for part of the Obama National Debt. But this deposit remains mostly untouched. According to the GemHunter, there are likely several more gem iolite deposits in this part of the Laramie Mountains.

Some Sweetwater agates found in the opal fields of Wyoming. Opals everywhere — some are larger than , carats sitting right next to the state highway! While mapping, he found billions of carats of common opal, agate, Sweetwater agate, the first fire opals reported in Wyoming, and the first precious opal verified from Wyoming. So kick around a few rocks, and keep your eyes open, you are likely to find a new mineral deposit or occurrence, maybe even a whole new district. But the GemHunter didn't find this deposit. It had been mentioned in passing in a couple of early publications by the US Geological Survey that some rocks were opalized, but no other descriptions.

While talking to a rock hound group in Riverton, a rock hound had mentioned he had picked up some opal in the area, so the GemHunter decided to go have a look and he found boulders of common opal sitting along the side of the roads, an entire hillside of fire opal, and a few traces of precious opal along with all kinds of agates and Sweetwater agates. It was just another example of no one every bothering to look. An recently, the GemHunter believes he may have identified another similar deposit near Douglas Wyoming that is described in his recent gemstone book.

If he were still in Wyoming, no doubt another significant gem deposit would have been identified by now, but instead, the deposit sits near the Interstate gathering dust. Gold was found by Spaniards years ago in Wyoming. However, recorded history indicates that gold was discovered in Wyoming in Fur trappers found gold in streams in the Wind River country, which at the time was part of the Northwest Territory.

Several years later, in , immigrants passing near Oregon Buttes along the Oregon Trail to the south reported finding gold along the trail. Four years later, after the region had been made part of the Dakota Territory, prospectors working further north discovered a rich lode along Willow Creek at the base of the Wind River Mountains. This led to the sinking of the Carissa shaft. South Pass City was organized within site of the gold mine. Hundreds of prospectors rushed to South Pass. Reports vary, but 2, to 10, may have populated South Pass City at the peak of the rush.

Gold was soon discovered at several nearby localities. Other towns rose from the dust. Hamilton City Miners Delight and Atlantic City reported populations of 1, and people, respectively. Pacific City to the south claimed a population of A few years later, after the region became part of the Wyoming Territory, gold discovered on Strawberry Creek led to the establishment of a town named Lewis Town also known as Lewiston.

Gold has been found in every mountain range in the state and many streams draining these regions also have gold! This rich copper sample is an example of mill rock that is found adjacent to volcano- genie massive sulfide deposits. Gold was King until near the end of the 19th Century. Then it found a Queen with rising copper prices and copper rose high enough it was considered a precious metal by prospectors. About the only major discovery was the Ferris-Haggarty in the Sierra Madre. To recover the rich ore, a mile long aerial tramway was built to haul ore from over the continental divide from the mine on the west side of the range, to the Boston-Wyoming mill and smelter complex at the town of Riverside on the east side of the range.

Copper was followed by platinum, palladium, asbestos, manganese, titanium, uranium, iron, coal, trona, bentonite, oil, gas and jade. David Love and Ray Harris made several uranium discoveries. Agates, Jasper, Petrified Wood Agate, jasper, and petrified wood are forms of chalcedony. Chalcedony is a compact or massive form of silica. Commonly, it forms by precipitation of silica-rich solutions as veins, as cavity linings, or by replacement in a wide variety of rock types. Jasper is a brightly colored red, brown, yellow form of chalcedony.

Varieties of banded agate include Rainbow agate, which diffracts light into a rainbow spectrum of colors when thinly sliced. A red and white banded agate known as Dryhead agate is found along the Bighorn River northeast of Lovell and in sediments eroded from the Hartville uplift northeast of Gurnsey. One of the more popular agates found in Wyoming is a very distinct and attractive agate, known as the Youngite. This is a very attractive, pink, silicified breccia cemented and coated with grey to blue-grey banded chalcedony.

Youngite agates have only been found in eastern Wyoming in the Hartville uplift near Gurnsey. Banded chalcedony from the Commonwealth mine, Arizona Moss agates have a distinct dendritic pattern from iron oxide or manganese oxide in white to blue chalcedony. A distinct agate known as Sweetwater agate contains manganese oxide dendrites in dark blue to dark gray-blue chalcedony. For many years, no one could find the source terrain for the famous Sweetwater agate until it was discovered by professor Hausel when he was sampling and mapping the Cedar Ridge opal deposit south of Riverton.

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The better places for petrified wood include the Absaroka Mountains, a place 35 miles north of Medicine Bow, along State Highway between Saratoga and Walcott, and northeast of Farson. The most coveted samples are near Farson, known as the Blue Forest wood. These have cores of silicified wood enclosed by a light-blue to sapphire-blue chalcedony. In this same region, rock hunters used to find stumps of petrified trees standing more than 6 to 8 feet tall a century ago. The better samples are dark brown to black in color, which in part is due to silicification.

Jasperoid breccia from the Granite Mountains Jasper is reddish to tawny chalcedony, and is mineralogically and chemically identical to agate, with the exception of trace metals which impart the reddish to tawny color. Many jaspers have been found in the state, but some of the better known localities are in the Granite Mountains in central Wyoming. Two extraordinary localities occur in the Tin Cup and the Rattlesnake Hills districts. Professor Hausel identified an extraordinary jasper deposit in the Rattlesnake Hills which actually has some fossil leaves impressed in the jasper.

The jasper mapped by him in the Tin Cup area is worth seeing. The jasper was exposed in an old mine and the mine and tailings are covered by some of the prettiest jasper and jasper breccia mankind has ever seen. Deep green to blue stains on many rocks in mine districts usually are copper carbonates known as malachite and azurite. When the copper weathers, they produce a copper-stained gossan that is a good place to look for visible gold.

Some gossans cap copper-enriched zones at shallow depths where the water table is encountered. Gold, silver, lead, zinc and molybdenum may be found in association with copper. Azurite blue with goethite and limonite yellow and brown. Azurite is a copper carbonate and will fizz just like a soda pop when dilute hydrochloric acid is dropped on it. Another way to test for most copper minerals is to wet the suspected minerals with dilute hydrochloric acid and then vigorously rub a well-used not new rock hammer into the wetted copper mineral.

If it is copper, it will deposit a thin coating of native copper on your rock pick. Sample collected from the Kirwin area, Absaroka Mountains, Wyoming. Most was from the Encampment District, where several mines were developed to support the Boston-Wyoming smelter and mill complex at Riverside. One of the more famous was the Ferris-Haggarty. Ore from this mine was shipped from the mine site along Haggarty Creek in an aerial tramway.

The tram ran from the mine, up the western slope and over the continental divide of the Sierra Madre, and down the eastern slope to a mill at Riverside. For comparison, some of the major modern copper mines of today produce ore that has only 0. In this same region, Professor Hausel found several massive sulfide copper deposits. So, the government decided to place many of these into roadless areas so they could no longer be explored. Copper is also found in many other places in the state including the Absaroka Mountains in northwestern Wyoming. And thanks to Uncle Sam, these now lie within wilderness, roadless and other areas that keep prospectors and rock hounds from prospecting.

Specularite hematite with bronze-chalcopyrite copper-iron-sulfide from Puzzler Hill, Wyoming Chalcopyrite copper-iron-sulfide is a brassy-orange, brittle, metallic mineral that weathers to limonite and a variety of copper minerals including malachite, black tenorite, and earthy red cuprite. If you place the same acid on tenorite or cuprite; you will find a thin plate of native copper will replace a well-used rock hammer after rubbing the hammer into the acid.

Diamonds are apparently recovered from streams as well as from a very rare rock known as kimberlite and sometimes from two of the rarest rocks on earth - lamproite and lamprophyre. Colorado, Montana and Wyoming have all three of these rocks and any prospectors should learn how to recognize them. Raw diamonds from kimberlite - diamonds can be verified by using a simple tool known as a Diamond Detective.

Some diamonds are priceless, and others have little value. Some diamonds are the most valuable commodities on earth. Rare diamonds are valued at , times an equivalent weight in gold! Thus for their size, diamonds can be an extremely valuable commodity. Diamonds and other gems are mined from two rare rock types — kimberlite and lamproite, both of which are abundant in Wyoming. For instance, Wyoming has the two largest known fields of kimberlite in the US and the largest lamproite field in North America. Now for another location to find gold flake and maybe a nugget- it happens.

I have noticed that if you are at an inside bend and you see a good amount of grass growing above, digging around that grass can be profitable. The grass acts as a sift and the heavy gold falls to the roots. Usually the flake you find there is very small fine, sometimes referred to as oat gold , but there can be quite a bit of it.

Of course, no rule for prospecting is perfect, but all of this gives you good places to sample and then dig for gold at a club claim. I have mentioned sampling a few times. When you sample you take material and pan it to definitely determine if gold exists. Mark that spot and come back to it or choose to dig there first. Most experienced prospectors will take an area and sample in several odds-on places, choosing to do their digging where they find the most flake.

Others dig enthusiastically as soon as they find a sample with gold. When you start to prospect, I figure it is whatever you want to do. I think that this gives the first time amateur prospector information that will prove important on a first outing with a gold prospecting club. You can obtain this level of info just by talking to the other club members, but that can be hard since you have not already made friends. After a couple outings you will have made friends and shared information.

Usually there is a club leader who is also a valuable source of information. From then on, you will be amazed at what you learn! Nuggets are generally worth more than placer flakes.

I suggest contacting http: If you have a lot, you might want to see an assayer. A jeweler can smelt the placer into a nugget or ingot for you. Thanks for the question. Sign in or sign up and post using a HubPages Network account. Comments are not for promoting your articles or other sites. New Mexico can get pretty hot so take a lot of water, and let someone know where you are going. I would very much like to go find gold and crystals with you.

I know a place called Origrandy NM. You have found a great pastime. Here is a great article about Texas gold. I am new to prospecting And enjoying every minute of it. Is there anywhere close to my location to pan for gold? Silver and grey streaks can be a number of things. My first inclination is forget about the grey and concentrate on understanding the association with orange dirt. You can get a good idea of why the orange can indicate precipitation of gold and iron at this site http: If gold was pushed up from the bowels of the earth in earth's primordial times, the melting point of iron and gold is important to understand.

Each melts at a similar temperature and could come up together. Flake is not dense enough to be picked up. I suppose it depends on the detector, but it would have to be a pretty big flake. It will pick up nuggets and some pickers. My metal detector won't even pick up flake in a bottle. It isn't compact enough. Thanks for the inquiry. You could do that, but you probably will just blow the material far away from you. If you do it, have a large tarp laid out or two. I would try a star drill and use a 3 pound sledge hammer. Using a power drill with masonry bit would be better, but power is always a problem in the boonies.

Hard rock mining is difficult and expensive. That is why I focus mainly on placer, and why commercial outfits have to have a really good vein to consider working. If you are in an area previously mined, try panning material at the bottom or entrance. I have picked up flakes this way. Can I use a chisel and hammer on a quartz vein with a signal from my metal detector in bedrock?

I have no personal knowledge of the geology of India. Gold is found in all the states of the United States. I suspect the same is true in India. One must realize that gold deposits must be very rich for a commercial mine. Small veins washed from elevation can yield placer. Talk to or read about those who have found placer before. I know of several areas in the U. Here is a link to a map of gold mines in India with one perhaps of special interest to you in East Singhbhum.

As an Indian ,I'm still in behind of color with no big success only for my passion and interest. Do you thing ,Is there any chance in middle east part of India. I never get tired of looking for color. Once you start, you may never be able to quit! Hard rock mining and placer mining are two different things. However, South Africa is rich in gold. If can search areas that drain from gold mining areas, perhaps you will have some success. If you know of gold areas in mountains, search areas that drain from there. It is a wonderful pastime. People do get surprised when I tell them there is gold in their area.

I believe every state has gold - including Rhode Island. It doesn't have to be commercially viable to be recreational and a pleasant hobby. The prices are good there, and might even be the best. Sometimes you can find used equipment which is the way I went. But then, I was on a really tight budget. There is a company out of California named Thompson where you can buy a hand crank model, a bit more expensive, and then wait to upgrade with a motor. Thanks for the comment. This is so cool! I've done a little gold panning in the North GA mountains, and now I'm ready to do some more.

We didn't do it "seriously" - our panning was more of an entertainment for the kids. On our next trip to the mountains, I'm using your tips! I am new to hubpages, but feeling good o be part of it! You described it good. Yes, I guess the 49ers discovered how Nevada is a different geology from California. I wish there was a cheap way to crush rock! Very informative and well written. I live in gold mining country here in northeast Nevada and have done a bit of prospecting myself.

However here gold deposits are of the disseminated variety so a working knowledge of geology is a must. Very seldom will you actually see gold but with a bit of detective work ore bodies can be found. It is a fun hobby, but don't sink a lot of money into it at first. You will find that gold is VERY hard to find. Over the course of 3 years and many trips to claims I have accumulated 2 grams. That won't pay for my gasoline. But there is always the possibility of finding a great treasure. I will have to look into my area to see if there is any possibilities within travel distance. What a great hobby-- good luck with it!

I am a desert prospector.

Gold prospecting

I cannot imagine digging in the snow. One time I watched a guy on YouTube prospecting in the winter in Wisconsin! I never thought about it - he is tougher than I am. Having spent much of my childhood playing in and around a stream, I can see where this prospecting business would be so much fun! I love camping and fooling around in the water.

But the guy out there in the snow? Voted up and tweeted! Glad the hub was of use. It is amazing how you can pick up little tricks of the trade the longer you practice the search for the brilliant yellow. I don't know if there is a lot of placer mining in South Africa, but I am guessing so.

Your country has so many rich lode areas that it would be interesting to explore alluvial areas at the base of mountains. Having panned for gold in several places in the USA and finding some flakes I wish I had read this article earlier as it is very helpful and would have increased my chances. At the time I was living in Easley, South Carolina I did not realize that the stream on my property, the bottom of which contained black sand, could have been a good place to pan for gold!

Prospecting is such a fascinating topic. Two of my great-uncles participated in the Alaska gold rush. One of my uncles was a mining engineer in Chile. He loved to collect and share mining experiences and prospecting adventures. Thank you for such a clear explanation of the process including the importance of joining a club of like-minded prospectors , voted up, etc. I read a book published at the turn of the century by a mining engineer. His specialty was dredging.

The Yuba river was an area as rich in gold as they come in its day. The machines they used are incredible. Maybe I'll get to the north fork someday.

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After working our claims in Alaska for the summer I would go down to northern California and pan the creeks and rivers with great success. I had a lot of success on the north fork of the Yuba River and spent many a day just walking the creek and panning. Just respect other folks and their claims and you won't get shot. Living in Northern CA. Right after a heavy storm is great opportunity for finding those illusive little flakes Other product and company names shown may be trademarks of their respective owners.

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