Finding Gold in Streams or Rivers
Gold is found in many streams and rivers in the form of flour gold. Which essentially is not very economical. When trying to find placer gold deposits in streams here are a few tips that will help you along your way.
- Search for gold down in streams near known hard rock occurrences. Now in saying this check your local claim maps specifically Nbeclaims.gnb.ca if your prospecting in New Brunswick, just to verify you aren't on someone elses land.
- Pan the leading edge of and inside edge of streams. These are areas of deposition and low pressure which gives the material a chance to drop out of the water. Gold specifically is a very dense material and will deposit in various areas of low pressure.
- Pan slowly and pay attention to the concentrations of heavy materials such as Black sands in your pan. Typically you will find your gold in areas which show higher concentrations of these minerals.
- Look for high benches or oxbow lakes. Oxbow lakes are parts of a stream system which used to flow and are typically evident in areas where the stream meanders. What happens is the stream will often clog up with organic material or hit a large boulder which backs up the water. From there the stream will find a secondary area of low relief and begin flowing in this other direction. From there the stream erodes it's new path and begins depositing gold and other heavy minerals in the new section. What often times is overlooked is the potential for gold paystreaks in the old stream or oxbox lake where the stream used to run. When panning these areas there are certain methods which I will touch in my next paragraph.
- Panning high benches and oxbow lakes. Typically you should be panning in a grid pattern, identifying where the old stream beds used to deposit their gold and other heavy minerals. Gold will typically be restricted to lag gravels in the stream which is comprised of larger cobble and sometimes clay. This type of gravel is often right above bedrock and moves at a much slower pace in the streams load. Lag gravel is the lowest portion of your sediment load where most of the heavy materials accumulate.
While panning for gold in high benches you are typically looking for humps along the banks of the river where the stream has deposited it's materials in ancient times or times of increased water flow. Over time a stream or river will erode bedrock deeper and deeper into a valley. High benches are formed over time when the stream erodes down, leaving it's material on a higher plateau than present day levels. In the areas of large rivers with ample water flow, these high benches can be several meteres above present day flow.
That's all for now, tune back in for some more articles on gold panning in the near future.s
Cheers.
