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Getting to Bedrock
clarky  
Posted : Tuesday, 5 July 2011 8:59:19 PM(UTC)
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As a newcomer I,m interested as to wether or not you should/need to pan all the loose shingle,stones,debrie etc on the way to reaching bedrock. I would presume it would pay to check some out on the way down but how often,how much, etc.
Or does it just pay to find a spot where there is bedrock with little overburden. On my maiden outing I seemed to be shifting a lot of crap and getting nowhere. I know this makes me sound like a real greenhorn but better to ask than shovel tonnage of crap!!

Cheers
Clarky

Edited by user Tuesday, 5 July 2011 9:04:46 PM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified
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gavin  
Posted : Tuesday, 5 July 2011 9:31:47 PM(UTC)
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Depends I guess... when cleaning out crevices with a lot of overburden in them I seem to find good bits on the way down too, but perhaps in a river you might just want to do the odd test pan now and again?

Even better still - set up a sluicebox and chuck everything through it on the way down as not too much extra effort then ;)
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kiwikeith  
Posted : Tuesday, 5 July 2011 9:31:55 PM(UTC)
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hi good to hear some one still learning
i have a claim and although i do work the over burden the best results are on rock bottom or parpa base (blue mud stone)
over burden still carries gold mainly floaters brought down each flood. it also depends on the area worked is there layers of black sand or rust colouring?
get some rib matting and just roll it up in the pack would sujest 1.5m long when you get to where you want to look roll it out into the creek stones under each side to form a trough and shovel in the top . you will soon find yellow stuff if there great stuff if im traveling a couple of hours walk from the road
cheers kiwikeith
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clarky  
Posted : Wednesday, 6 July 2011 6:47:24 AM(UTC)
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Thanks for that guys. The sluice box is next on the list of things to get/build so that,ll take of that side of things.

I like the idea of the ribbed matt to spot a bit of colour too. All makes sense.

Cheers, thanks for the info
Clarky
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Juggie  
Posted : Wednesday, 6 July 2011 1:29:11 PM(UTC)
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You could try my idea for a sluice box / rail system.

http://forums.paydirt.co.nz/yaf_postst169_Light-weight-Sluice-box-material-idea.aspx

It means you can put everything through very quickly & not need to classify the big stones out 1st, as it's done automatuically by the rails.
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clarky  
Posted : Wednesday, 6 July 2011 6:20:03 PM(UTC)
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Thanks for the idea Juggie looks good and easy to construct and it obviously works

Cheers
Clarky
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goldfinger  
Posted : Wednesday, 6 July 2011 8:19:07 PM(UTC)
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A test pan ...colour.....everything goes thru the sluice box.
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Eagle  
Posted : Wednesday, 6 July 2011 8:58:12 PM(UTC)
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Gidday Clarky

Gold is where you find it mate...... I hate that!! but very true.
Test as you go,dont just blindly shovel heaps of shit in the hope of getting the good stuff.
Prospect to see if its worth your time & effort.

Personally I have found my best stuff on the bottom in crevices & drop slots running at various angles.

Go hard
Eagle
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Lammerlaw  
Posted : Thursday, 7 July 2011 1:28:04 AM(UTC)
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All the good gold I think I have had over the years has been on the bedrock, sometimes after huge floods had washed the gravel and even huge boulders away leaving new bedrock...and gold exposed.

On a couple of occasions I have got several ounces of gold amongst the gravel and all of those occasions have been when the gold has been more or less blasted out of deep holes in high floods and deposited just downstream from the holes together with the residual gravels as the flood subsides so that the gravel is full of fine gravel but not heavy stuff.

After one flood below a deep hole I found a lot of small nuggets up to a penny weight plus a great deal of fine gold and never did know if the nuggets were more or less washed out of the hole or from the bank or had been there all along and somehow were missed by the old timers or even washed out of the end of their sluices.

To cut a long story short - go for crevices! - crevices and cracks in the bedrock every time!
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clarky  
Posted : Thursday, 7 July 2011 8:26:21 PM(UTC)
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Excellent info Lammerlaw. From what I have been reading in these forums, cracks and crevices certainly seem to produce the goods! I believe that with anything that you start anew in it is only with time,experience,understanding and sucking in every helpful bit of information from those that have gone before you that success will come! (hopefully).

Thanks
Clarky
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Eagle  
Posted : Thursday, 7 July 2011 10:54:54 PM(UTC)
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Good info there Lammerlaw.

Thanks
Eagle
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