Sampling for stringer gold with a metal detector
Sampling when placer gold prospecting is a vital method to gold recovery as not all gold bearing areas are created equal with gold nuggets, fine gold and flake gold. In fact some areas are practically devoid of nugget gold yet have good fine gold while others are just the opposite and still then there are the areas with a good mix of nugget, flake and fine gold. Sampling is always a key factor in all types of gold recovery both large and small scale. I’ll share some of my sample processes that I use while detecting.
I’ll ask you a question. Have you ever spent an entire day detecting for gold nuggets, found none, did not sample for fine gold and just wrote the area off? Well if you have, you’re not alone, none of us was born an expert prospector. In fact you’re in good company. Sampling for placer gold can mean different things to different people and there are many methods that a prospector can use to sample when sampling. You simply don’t want to miss gold, be it fine gold or nugget gold.
Metal detecting for gold nuggets is in a very real sense sampling. If you find one nugget you’ll likely find others and you may want to begin placering the wash out digging down past the depth of your detector to see what nuggets might be out of range on the bedrock in deeper areas. You might even want to try another coil, see how it samples. Of course there is that occasional “one nugget wash”. Found a few of those over the years. But a one nugget wash is a good example of real prospecting conditions. Some of those one nugget washes had excellent fine gold. The lone nugget was simply a leader, and indicator that gold was there. But success required that I rethink my method and approach to gold recovery and not walk away writing the area off.
As I swing my metal detector looking for gold nuggets I’m constantly keeping an eye on where to sample for fine gold to drywash or dredge. When its dry I use a long tube to blow out bedrock cracks looking for colors and take small sample bags home to process with my gold pan. If I can see colors with the blow tube but am not finding nuggets with my detector at the end of the day then opportunity still exists in the area. Maybe good opportunity with another gold recovery method. When ground conditions are wet I usually have my gold pan in my backpack ready to try for the colors. I also often take samples of quartz stringers and other interesting rock formations as I hike to process later with a lode gold pilot mill. The main point is don’t ignore the opportunities presented to you with placer (and lode) gold recovery. I also recommend sampling at multiple points along a wash, especially the text book drop zones, inside bends, etc. Remember your sample style will depend on your area, your plans and future efforts. Give your placer gold sampling a good honest effort. For further reading you might enjoy Gold Sampling: a 3-Phase Plan of Attack (Part 1) quote: “Instead of looking at sampling as a necessary evil or drudgery of sorts, you may try viewing it as the single most critical factor to your success in any mining enterprise.” So very true.
The post Placer Gold Prospecting and Sampling appeared first on Arizona Gold Prospecting.