Here in the Snowy Range Mountains in Wyoming, we have a little no name Creek that I Have been getting super fine gold and small flakes. Some of the gold is so small it takes a jewels loop to see it in the black sand. I keep hoping to find the pocket of larger stuff. Thank you again Chris for sharing your knowledge with us.
Ahh nothing like waking up to a video by Chris👍. Funny of you to say something about a 6 in vein. Because just before the weather started to turn here in NIdaho. I went for a hike that was fairly remote. While making my way up a water fall system up to my Dmark location. I came across a horizontal quartz vein. It is a little over a foot wide by 40 ft long. Before I loose visibility due to its angle into the ground. Very deep in depth I have to imagine at the end of it, starts at 10 ft. I didn’t trace it past the waterfall into the mountain. But what I did notice is there are no visible indicators that anyone has been across it to sample it. This stuff is very mineralized. A lot of black sooty material. I know, indicative of silver and there is visible gold. I broke open one of the larger pieces I kept just last night. Probably 5x4x3in. And silver like I’ve never seen before. It’s actually quite beautiful the way it makes it’s way through the quartz. Seems to be on the face of every angle. Now I happen to live near a historic silver producer but this area is not claimed. So come spring I’ll do my thing and pull what I can from it. I’ve also made some great discoveries. It just takes a little motivation to get out and look. Thanks for the good advice Chris. You make some of the best videos!
This video is spot on. I've always been a fan of going against the grain in prospecting. If the old timers left it that means your looking for seconds, yes sometimes those seconds are good but finding something that hasn't been run are usually better. Thx to this video you did open up alot good areas for me to prospect this year. Thx for sharing your knowledge with us chris!!!
Hi Chris. I got your book! For anyone looking for really usable info on mining techniques with the background info needed to be able to interpret your findings this book is excellent. I have read a lot of books on the subject but not brown-nosing, yours is the best I've seen. The reason I say this is you cover such a wide range of info that the reader is able to put 2+2 together and come up with... you guessed it 4. I found a nice site that was giving me an ounce per 8 hours of dredging with a 5 inch dredge. California's "antediluvian" attitude of stop all dredging just in case there may be damage stopped me but the lessons were learned. I have watched at least 90% of your videos, and the thing I liked the most is the wide range of your instruction. I have a lot of personal experience at this point but still I pick out "nuggets" I can put to use. Thanks again for your sharing the vast knowledge you have garnered over the years to help us newer prospectors.
Thanks Chris. I live Adjacent the South Fork of the American River in the El Dorado Foothills. I have been prospecting for a couple years now, mostly panning, and recently started metal detecting. Your videos have helped me better understand basic geology, thank you. Sometimes when I walk around my neighborhood I come across large spots of bedrock which have been exposed by erosion or when developers carved into the hills. I have often thought about running my detector over them for fun. Think I'll give it a try.
@@ChrisRalph Near New York Creek and other small feeder creeks which eventually feed into South Fork. I have been researching old maps to see if anything pops out.
I was watching this with my 5 year old daughter and she points at the TV and says " look Dane it's your gold teacher!" She's got an eye for gold! She always points out nice specimens in vein outcroppings on the surface when we're out and about. The gold around here is epithermal I believe because the deposits are usually closer to the surface and historically we have had lots of geothermal activity which formed this area.
You are a freaking superhero for sharing all this sacred knowledge Chris. This is "worth it's weight in gold". I have always wanted to know more about geology and gold as I spend most of my time exploring the Wildlands. Now maybe I can find enough shiny stuff to support my adventure habit.
I enjoy all of your videos and always get something out of them. I found this one particularly helpful! Can't wait to carry some of this knowledge out into the field here in Montana!
I enjoy the lessons, explanations, and guidance you give back to help others. You have really helped so many people including me gain the knowledge to be successful at finding gold.. thank you Chris. You are awesome!
Great video Chris ! Very good education. The old-timer's were smart fellows for the most part, however, they did leave a few deposits behind. Probably focusing on high-grade zones. My claims meet your first category. The old-timers used dry washers for the most part. They avoided areas of heavy clay for various reasons. Fortunately for me, they left behind many virgin areas containing good gold. Just need to have the right equipment to extract it..... I remember reading a story about Six Mile Canyon regarding a gray sludge kept clogging sluice box riffles. It wasn't until someone finally decided to assay it, discovering it was silver. They followed the sludge up the canyon, and the rest was history... If this is true, I'm wondering if one could find remnants of this sludge in the canyon today ?
The story you mention is the original find of the Comstock at the Ophir mine. Yes, there was a little gold at the site but much of what they dug was broken and weathered ore in place that had not really moved any. They did not really follow anything, they started almost right on top of the lode. Geologists think that very little of the Comstock Lode was eroded away before it was discovered. Hence, because so little was eroded away, there was only a little bit of gold in the canyon below. There is probably a tiny amount of gold down there still, but a lot is private property with houses built and keep out signs.
I have the most frustrating (hobbyist) gold deposit ever. Gold is in hydrothermally altered rocks and clay. Lots of gold in the rocks, in particular. However, it's almost entirely gold dust. Definition of irony. Lots of good gold but can't extract it economically (as a hobbyist). Still, fun to play.
i live in new mexico and ive heard its the western state with the least amount of gold. but with the local geology and geography you would think there would be tons of gold in the mountains. atleast on par with arizona my theory is that millions of years of erosion has turned most nuggets and exposed veins into microscopic dust and that all the historical lead silver ore production means most peoples who have settled here never really spent alot of time looking for gold. compared to easy silver extraction.
Might be gold no one is aware of. Examine local areas yourself. Try to understand local geology. Where I live, supposed to be small amounts of lode gold in quartz. Nothing else, according to geology reports. However, I've found good gold in non quartz rock.
No, Wyoming is the least, but as far as placer type gold, New Mexico is tied with Arizona for tenth of the 13 western states. Google "Maureen Johnson, Gold placers of New Mexico" - You should be able to find a free downloadable copy that will tell you where placer gold is found in NM.
great video. I live in Western Colorado and have prospecting partner and so lots of gold around but tough to find good spots. You're video gets me some knowledge and a bit excited for summer
Great information Chris. Thanks for making this video. I'd love to hear your thoughts on reading an alluvial fan downhill from a lode area where there is no indication of a former stream.
There has been a lot of rain and snow out west, enough to put a dent in the megadrought (Thank God!), and it looks like there's much more on the way. Do you think all that run off is going to release a lot of gold that was previously inaccessible? May the Golden Goddess smile upon you.
Even more storms are coming in the next few days I think there will be good opportunities in CA, but I'd avoid trying to get out there in the middle of the active flooding.
I really like your video, I think it was very interesting. I got a mini sluice box & a couple gold pans. I been interested in this for quite some time, but can't really find a good spot to set up. I tried a stream not far from the house, but no black sand, and very little quartz. I still never gave up, since this idea of finding my own gold is so very very interesting. Is there like prospecting maps somewhere? I also came up with this really great idea, you know coverts that go across under roads? well they have ribbed riffles just like riffles in a sluice box, well the water does usually push some dirt down the coverts you know. Well in the dry seasons, a person could easily crawl through one with a vacuum cleaner and flash lights getting all the material caught in the riffles which could potentially have gold, I think. I don't know, its just a theory.
Try googling gold deposits of your state for more info on gold in your area. There is a lot of info on google. That said, there is not gold in every stream all over the earth - most drainages have no gold.
I have a doubt, which may be many. As a beginner in mining, I am using the government platform where the mining licenses to identify areas with incidence of gold, and gems. And at the same time I check the geology of the area to justify the incidence of the lavras. However, here in Brazil there is information among miners that many companies request a license to research and exploit certain minerals, or only one of the minerals, for example Sand only, or quartzite sand only, or... Clay, gravel, gabbro, kaolin, limestone, quartz, quartzite, granite, gneiss, slate, iron, copper, silver. And they don't mention the incidence of gold, but the geology of many areas justify the possible incidence of gold, that is, the companies do not mention gold among the geochemical hosts in their research and extractions of gold,and even diamond, uranium, paladium. In this way, many companies pay taxes on minerals such as clay, sand and all mentioned above, which are many with lower added value than gold, diamond, uranium, palladium... and carry with them the gold present in the tons they take out of countries, or separate within the company itself from the tax-registered mineral base. We know that in every ton of iron there is a lot of gold dust, as well as among other minerals mentioned above. First question: Do companies not mention gold only sometimes because the incidence is low to justify its extraction legal and fiscal? Or how clever not to pay for what will come "inside the cake"? In this sense, I justify my curiosity with the main focus of my inquiries: For us small prospectors, what is determined as low content by big companies, for us it can be a lot! 1 kg of gold in the month is excellent!! for a company of less than 20 to 30 kg per month, it may not be interesting to assume that they are extracting gold, being that they can simply take this amount inside the base mineral registered!? Since you yourself mentioned in one of your videos that there are technologies to separate gold dust from iron and other host minerals. Second question: In this sense, do you advise that we autonomous prospectors who use the government's mining maps as one of the means to identify the areas with incidence and registered with gold and other gems, we must doubt from those areas recorded with other gold host ores? and based on the geology of the site and on tests? because as I said: the little for a big company can be a lot for us autonomous!!....
You questions are specific to Brazil and Brazilian mining laws. I am not familiar with the mining laws of Brazil. So it is difficult to answer. I am sure your English is better than my Portuguese, but we also have a language problem of my understanding what you are asking as much is lost in the translation.
Hey Chris, I have a geology related questions. For years I've found gold in the old timer dry diggings on the sides of hills. Here and there there is rough pieces of quartz float. But alot of these places have mostly round smooth quartz rocks and are not even close to a water course where they could have gotten water worn. How did these quartz rocks get round and smooth? I'm sure they didn't come out of the vein being that round. Thank you again for another informative video. Been Watching for years. Good luck on your next golden adventure.
If the quartz is really rounded and smooth, its been in a stream at some time. I know where there are rounded quartz boulders that are a long ways from any drainage - but long ago they were in a river.
Hey Chris I'm moving over 20 miles east of Showlow AZ new territory for me. Lots of volcanic rock I'm going to be doing some billygoating I've found far more silver than gold in the senator hywy area's
I just got back from Dawson city Yukon. I found it interesting that I found very little black sand . I have gold claims Fort steel bc / Boulder creek, wild horse also basically no black sand. Thoughts ?
Black sands are frequently found with gold, but its not required. Gold can be found without black sand. Black sand comes from the weathering of some types of rocks - there are many places with loads of black sand but no gold.
Love the video, do have any videos covering heavy black sand removal, I am having a issue with my box being filled with black sand but it has good colors, maybe I can send you a 5gal bucket of the material and maybe could give some insite, love this channel 😀 😊
I live in victorville CA. I believe that there was dredging here I noticed that after it rains on the hillside there are little veins that traveling down and stop at the bottom and makes pile when it dries it resembles a miniature 🌋 volcano. It's mostly lighter than the rest of the surrounding dirt ,shiny, mud is what it looks like. Is it gold I don't know but there's piles of it here in my backyard
I love your videos I've learned so much from. Them it's rilly cool that you r trying to get the information out there and you can tell you know what you r talking about good job keep them coming 👍 👏 😉
Supposedly the lodes around here were already eroded down. Waldo district Southern Oregon. Illinois river, Sucker Creek, and Althouse Creek watersheds.
I am from Nova Scotia, Canada. Goldboro Gold Mine is only kms away from where I would like to prospect. Granite rock for as far as you can see. Quartz seams all over the area. I would like to see some granite/quartz show or podcast. Is metal detection good for determining if a quartz seam has gold in it? Can quartz seams in granite be dug out with pick and shovel ?
Lots of questions. Is metal detection good for determining if a quartz seam has gold in it? Yes, if the gold in the vein is coarse enough. Metal detectors do not see tiny dust sized particles of gold. I have no idea what is present in the Goldboro. Can quartz seams in granite be dug out with pick and shovel ? yes, if the granite is weathered enough. If hard an unweathered, then no.
My mom's on a creek, tributary of Medina river, in Bandera county TX and I've always been curious if there is any in there, you don't hear much about gold in the TX hill country.
Chris is a human encyclopedia of geology and gold prospecting. In fact a few of his videos have made me suspect that he's probably a geology teacher as a side gig, or was in the past. Such a kind and helpful guy in his TH-cam videos. That said, I wouldn't ever want to get on his bad side. There's something about him that reminds me a little bit of Walter White. Maybe he's the Heisenberg of prospecting lol!
The whole schist thing has me curious, I work in a geological wonderland, but it was never known for gold…BUT there are all the signs and the insane geology and other minerals and metals that are abundant…I wish I could just show you in person! But I do know of a spot, that has 2 tunnels that go back into a basalt cliff, one of them is directly on a vein of something but no idea what it is or what they were looking for…
I get gobs of requests for consultation, evaluations, training, assistance, etc. However, I have so many of my own projects, I simply dont have time to get involved with other people's projects. Sorry.
@@ChrisRalph totally get it. I’m in the same boat, my situation is pretty special. I’m a signal maintainer and my territory is the southern half of the deschutes river canyon in central Oregon. Only access is the river or the railroad for over 100 miles and it’s mind blowing! Virtually untouched area since the early 1900’s
I recently discovered your channel, and you and Myron Cook are my new favorites! I know Utah is known more for fossils and gemstones more than any valuable minerals and ores, (excluding kennecott copper) but I was wondering if you knew of anything in Utah that is worth prospecting with possible locales (I was thinking cobalt or lithium in the southeast quarter specifically around the San Rafael swell? Thanks!
There is placer gold in Utah. Not vast amounts, but amounts worth going after. I recommend a book called "Gold Panning Utah" by Alan Chenworth. There are also many hard rock gold deposits in Utah. Utah produces gems like Topaz. There are rock hound books like: Rockhounding Utah, 2nd: A Guide to the State's Best Rockhounding Sites - available on Amazon. Check out web pages like: rockhoundresource.com/utah-rockhounding-location-guide-map/ Use Google to search and you will find lots of info.
@@ChrisRalph they were more interested in lumber. The geology is nutz up here. small but rich veins were found in quartz a few miles upstream. but I suspect monzonite, schistose clay as well as tertiary deposits go undiscovered. It doesn't help when every rock is a great indicator of au, and you can get lots of blk sand & 0 color(probably from past dredging). Best I've found is .1 meteoric/pitted looking pickers & little wire gold. mercury spotted areas from the past. not a novice spot , but the mystery keeps me goin lol🤙
@@ChrisRalph That's how I've figured out where it is. Its actually a fascinating journey so far of studying history and geology to narrow it down. I am in the process of taking samples from various places to attempt to isolate the exact location of the lodes. The whole region I am talking about is a real mystery even to the geologists who live there. There are so many questions about how many glaciers hit here and where all their morianes ended up. From what I can tell there are several that all dumped their rock in the same area because there is a very stark line between the waterways where gold is found and those where none is found. Most of the rest of the minerals mined in this state are from hydrothermal deposits that came up into at least the metamorphic rock so they range from 500-1200 feet down from the surface. There are a few areas that are exceptions to that though and its certainly possible some of the gold the glaciers swept up was local in origin. We got delayed by heatwave, but we'll document our adventures looking for it soon here!
A friend of mine gave me some Alaska gold he panned. When they lowered Toledo Bend Lake on the La/Tx border to work on the dam I went to the end of the lake fishing. Nobody was supposed to be behind the dam but me and a guy went to look at the bedrock there. I found a lot of flour gold in holes worn in the bedrock. I collected samples but forgot and left them in the guy`s truck and he threw the cup away it was in. I know for a fact it was gold and there was a lot of it directly behind the dam. I tested it on the bumper of his truck by smearing it with a knife to show him but he laughed at me. He`d never seen gold before. I saw a comment on a forum from a guy who claimed he used a dredge in a boat in the Sabine River below Logansport, La and he claimed he found large nuggets. Before they made the dam there were bedrock slabs in the river visible when it was low that looked just like what I saw behind the dam.
Man dude Chris Ralph! YOU ARE NOT JOKING WHEN U SAY WHAT U KNOW DIRECTLY AFFECTS THE AMOUNT OF SUCCESS YOU HAVE PROSPECTING. The more I learn about why the gold is where it is, the easier it is to find and the better specimens I get. I live in the peninsular ranges of Southern California. My city is like built on Goldfields and the vast majority of folks don't know, aren't interested and wouldn't even believe u if tell them and show them a crystalline nugget and a diamond. There's little hints tho in the names of the streets, many of the names are of places or people that have some association with gold and gold tellurides. The history of the local mining is very deceiving by my city hostorical society, it's kinda decieving. I intend to stake my own claim as I've found several rich epithermal gold deposits here as well as a diamondiferous kimberlite pipe.
I also have a theory that a certain deposit type I've come across here may have been unrecognized as it had yet to be identified during the original gold rush. Which would explain the downplayed historical significance of the local gold mining.
I have an ancient river channel running through my property period the rock is so old and brittle that it fractures into pieces making it hard to notice the round river erosion of the rock. It took me many years to realize this. Luckily I had a job 😅 And The old-timers cover the pay with downed Trees and limbs and bark period they really went out of their way to do this and they did a great job period I finally cracked the code.
Hi Chris, enjoy the videos and am reading through your book at the present while on a trip. I do have a question about what is happening in a creek system in SW Oregon when there is no gold or flakes to be found in the lower sections of the creek even after multiple tests but higher up the creek, 3/4 mile up, there are sections of creek bank that shows evidences of extensive hydroblasting with prolific large green stones. What factors makes the gold disappear in the lower sections of a creek when the early miners obviously expended a lot of effort in the upper reaches? It seems that the gold would be channeling and gravity should cause it to be detectable in the lower drainage. Baffled.
I have a question Chris Ralph. Okay I sold my impact Mill to a gentleman. He has a degree in biology been through college whole nine yards. He's mining decomposing granite out of Nevada but he's able to extract Platinum group medals. Is that possible? He would roast a sulfur out. Take the magnetite hematite out of it magnetically. Electro win I don't know if I'm spelling that correctly then put it in a pressure vessel up to 2500 lb PSI
@@ChrisRalph That's the tough part! I've been chasing little nugs for the last week. Ragged, crystalline with quite a bit of rock in some. It hatched out right there! Got 2 today and then dug 6 feet and nothing! Poking left, poking right, poking straight ahead, frustrating! Got 31 pieces and it seems I lost the scent. Try, try again!
Hi Chris how are you been trying to find a way to speak to you about a mine in the Dominican Republic would their be a way to contact you ? I sent you a message on Facebook if that works please reach out to me thanks
Just give me a chance the benefit of the doubt! You might not be Abel to handle it but could steer me into the right direction on finding a potential buyer
Here in the Snowy Range Mountains in Wyoming, we have a little no name Creek that I Have been getting super fine gold and small flakes. Some of the gold is so small it takes a jewels loop to see it in the black sand.
I keep hoping to find the pocket of larger stuff.
Thank you again Chris for sharing your knowledge with us.
Always glad to help - best of luck to you.
Wyoming is a sleeper. Spent a little time there but would like to spend a lot more.
Chris your videos are packed full of valuable life long learned skills , Thank you so much for sharing it with us!
Glad you like them! My pleasure!
Ahh nothing like waking up to a video by Chris👍.
Funny of you to say something about a 6 in vein. Because just before the weather started to turn here in NIdaho. I went for a hike that was fairly remote. While making my way up a water fall system up to my Dmark location. I came across a horizontal quartz vein. It is a little over a foot wide by 40 ft long. Before I loose visibility due to its angle into the ground. Very deep in depth I have to imagine at the end of it, starts at 10 ft. I didn’t trace it past the waterfall into the mountain. But what I did notice is there are no visible indicators that anyone has been across it to sample it. This stuff is very mineralized. A lot of black sooty material. I know, indicative of silver and there is visible gold.
I broke open one of the larger pieces I kept just last night. Probably 5x4x3in. And silver like I’ve never seen before. It’s actually quite beautiful the way it makes it’s way through the quartz. Seems to be on the face of every angle.
Now I happen to live near a historic silver producer but this area is not claimed. So come spring I’ll do my thing and pull what I can from it.
I’ve also made some great discoveries. It just takes a little motivation to get out and look.
Thanks for the good advice Chris. You make some of the best videos!
Sounds great, glad you like the videos.
This video is spot on. I've always been a fan of going against the grain in prospecting. If the old timers left it that means your looking for seconds, yes sometimes those seconds are good but finding something that hasn't been run are usually better. Thx to this video you did open up alot good areas for me to prospect this year.
Thx for sharing your knowledge with us chris!!!
Absolutely true, best of luck to you.
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Hi Chris. I got your book! For anyone looking for really usable info on mining techniques with the background info needed to be able to interpret your findings this book is excellent. I have read a lot of books on the subject but not brown-nosing, yours is the best I've seen. The reason I say this is you cover such a wide range of info that the reader is able to put 2+2 together and come up with... you guessed it 4. I found a nice site that was giving me an ounce per 8 hours of dredging with a 5 inch dredge. California's "antediluvian" attitude of stop all dredging just in case there may be damage stopped me but the lessons were learned. I have watched at least 90% of your videos, and the thing I liked the most is the wide range of your instruction. I have a lot of personal experience at this point but still I pick out "nuggets" I can put to use. Thanks again for your sharing the vast knowledge you have garnered over the years to help us newer prospectors.
Thanks for the kind words, lots more videos are coming.....
Thanks Chris. I live Adjacent the South Fork of the American River in the El Dorado Foothills. I have been prospecting for a couple years now, mostly panning, and recently started metal detecting. Your videos have helped me better understand basic geology, thank you. Sometimes when I walk around my neighborhood I come across large spots of bedrock which have been exposed by erosion or when developers carved into the hills. I have often thought about running my detector over them for fun. Think I'll give it a try.
True, but especially so if its in the general area of the river....
@@ChrisRalph Near New York Creek and other small feeder creeks which eventually feed into South Fork. I have been researching old maps to see if anything pops out.
I was watching this with my 5 year old daughter and she points at the TV and says " look Dane it's your gold teacher!"
She's got an eye for gold! She always points out nice specimens in vein outcroppings on the surface when we're out and about. The gold around here is epithermal I believe because the deposits are usually closer to the surface and historically we have had lots of geothermal activity which formed this area.
Family is so important. I'm glad you enjoy the videos.
Valuable Content as always Chris 👍⭐⭐⭐
Glad you think so! I always enjoy your videos my friend.
I always enjoy your videos too Sir!
I hear that you found that 1/2oz. nugget I lost a couple weeks ago? 😁
Thanks Chris, I was just studying on this and got notified that you posted this!
Glad you enjoyed it!
One of your best videos so far in my opinion. Thank you for taking the time Chris! Excellent!
Wow, thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!
You're videos are so informative thank you for educating us on the pretty shiny
You are so welcome!
You are a freaking superhero for sharing all this sacred knowledge Chris. This is "worth it's weight in gold".
I have always wanted to know more about geology and gold as I spend most of my time exploring the Wildlands. Now maybe I can find enough shiny stuff to support my adventure habit.
Best of luck to you in your efforts.
Thanks Chris, You RoCk! I'm truly grateful you share your knowledge so that we can have the upper hand!
I appreciate that!
I enjoy all of your videos and always get something out of them. I found this one particularly helpful! Can't wait to carry some of this knowledge out into the field here in Montana!
Glad you like them!
I enjoy the lessons, explanations, and guidance you give back to help others. You have really helped so many people including me gain the knowledge to be successful at finding gold.. thank you Chris. You are awesome!
Thanks for the kind words, I'm glad you enjoyed it and found it helpful.
Thank you for sharing your wisdom Chris! Very informative. Greetings from Liberia, West Africa!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Great video Chris ! Very good education. The old-timer's were smart fellows for the most part, however, they did leave a few deposits behind. Probably focusing on high-grade zones. My claims meet your first category. The old-timers used dry washers for the most part. They avoided areas of heavy clay for various reasons. Fortunately for me, they left behind many virgin areas containing good gold. Just need to have the right equipment to extract it..... I remember reading a story about Six Mile Canyon regarding a gray sludge kept clogging sluice box riffles. It wasn't until someone finally decided to assay it, discovering it was silver. They followed the sludge up the canyon, and the rest was history... If this is true, I'm wondering if one could find remnants of this sludge in the canyon today ?
The story you mention is the original find of the Comstock at the Ophir mine. Yes, there was a little gold at the site but much of what they dug was broken and weathered ore in place that had not really moved any. They did not really follow anything, they started almost right on top of the lode. Geologists think that very little of the Comstock Lode was eroded away before it was discovered. Hence, because so little was eroded away, there was only a little bit of gold in the canyon below. There is probably a tiny amount of gold down there still, but a lot is private property with houses built and keep out signs.
I have the most frustrating (hobbyist) gold deposit ever. Gold is in hydrothermally altered rocks and clay. Lots of gold in the rocks, in particular. However, it's almost entirely gold dust. Definition of irony. Lots of good gold but can't extract it economically (as a hobbyist). Still, fun to play.
Best of luck to you in your prospecting.
@@ChrisRalph great video Chris been waiting for this video it will help alot of folks if they pay attention
i live in new mexico and ive heard its the western state with the least amount of gold. but with the local geology and geography you would think there would be tons of gold in the mountains. atleast on par with arizona
my theory is that millions of years of erosion has turned most nuggets and exposed veins into microscopic dust and that all the historical lead silver ore production means most peoples who have settled here never really spent alot of time looking for gold. compared to easy silver extraction.
Might be gold no one is aware of. Examine local areas yourself. Try to understand local geology. Where I live, supposed to be small amounts of lode gold in quartz. Nothing else, according to geology reports. However, I've found good gold in non quartz rock.
No, Wyoming is the least, but as far as placer type gold, New Mexico is tied with Arizona for tenth of the 13 western states. Google "Maureen Johnson, Gold placers of New Mexico" - You should be able to find a free downloadable copy that will tell you where placer gold is found in NM.
@@ChrisRalph thank you sir!
great video. I live in Western Colorado and have prospecting partner and so lots of gold around but tough to find good spots. You're video gets me some knowledge and a bit excited for summer
I hope that you have a very productive summer with lots of gold.
Great information Chris. Thanks for making this video. I'd love to hear your thoughts on reading an alluvial fan downhill from a lode area where there is no indication of a former stream.
Most hand have some sort of drainage that puts gravel into them - some are formed just because it is so steep and rocks fall down with gravity.
I wonder what the source of gold is in Hemps Creek in LaSalle Parish Louisiana.
Hard to say....
There has been a lot of rain and snow out west, enough to put a dent in the megadrought (Thank God!), and it looks like there's much more on the way. Do you think all that run off is going to release a lot of gold that was previously inaccessible? May the Golden Goddess smile upon you.
It should but they have yet to have real flooding in the high country - the storms have been cold enough to drop snow.
Great information Chris, thanks again.
Any time! I keep trying to put out good videos.
Hey Chris! Should we head to the California gold fields?! Perhaps the rain has uncovered some sediments containing gold ?
Even more storms are coming in the next few days I think there will be good opportunities in CA, but I'd avoid trying to get out there in the middle of the active flooding.
Thanks for the video. It has given me some thoughts to chew on.
Glad it was helpful.
Please keep us posted on the whereabouts that you will be in Northern California. I’d love to help you dig up some of the shiny stuff!
Well, I have 76,000+ subscribers, so when I am out prospecting, Its a secret.
Really good vid Chris, Thanks, MSC
Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Your book is Awesome really enjoy reading it.
Glad you enjoy it!
Love your videos man. Not selling anything. Asking nothing in return. Just spreading knowledge. Hope you never decide that this isn't worth your time.
Thanks! I plan on continuing just as I am doing.....
@@ChrisRalph Awsome! Thank you from all of us!
I really like your video, I think it was very interesting. I got a mini sluice box & a couple gold pans. I been interested in this for quite some time, but can't really find a good spot to set up. I tried a stream not far from the house, but no black sand, and very little quartz. I still never gave up, since this idea of finding my own gold is so very very interesting. Is there like prospecting maps somewhere? I also came up with this really great idea, you know coverts that go across under roads? well they have ribbed riffles just like riffles in a sluice box, well the water does usually push some dirt down the coverts you know. Well in the dry seasons, a person could easily crawl through one with a vacuum cleaner and flash lights getting all the material caught in the riffles which could potentially have gold, I think. I don't know, its just a theory.
Try googling gold deposits of your state for more info on gold in your area. There is a lot of info on google. That said, there is not gold in every stream all over the earth - most drainages have no gold.
I have a doubt, which may be many. As a beginner in mining, I am using the government platform where the
mining licenses to identify areas with incidence of gold, and gems. And at the same time I check the geology of the area to justify the incidence
of the lavras. However, here in Brazil there is information among miners that many companies request a license to research and exploit certain
minerals, or only one of the minerals, for example Sand only, or quartzite sand only, or... Clay, gravel, gabbro, kaolin,
limestone, quartz, quartzite, granite, gneiss, slate, iron, copper, silver. And they don't mention the incidence of gold, but the geology of many
areas justify the possible incidence of gold, that is, the companies do not mention gold among the geochemical hosts in their research and extractions
of gold,and even diamond, uranium, paladium.
In this way, many
companies pay taxes on minerals such as clay, sand and all mentioned above, which are many with lower added value than gold, diamond, uranium, palladium...
and carry with them the gold present in the tons they take out of
countries, or separate within the company itself from the tax-registered mineral base. We know that in every ton of iron there is a lot of gold dust, as well as among
other minerals mentioned above. First question: Do companies not mention gold only sometimes because the incidence is low to justify its extraction
legal and fiscal? Or how clever not to pay for what will come "inside the cake"?
In this sense, I justify my curiosity with the main focus of my inquiries: For us small prospectors, what is determined as low content
by big companies, for us it can
be a lot! 1 kg of gold in the month is excellent!! for a company of less than 20 to 30 kg per month, it may not be interesting to assume that they are extracting gold,
being that they can simply take this amount inside the base mineral registered!? Since you yourself mentioned in one of your videos that there are technologies
to separate gold dust from iron and other host minerals. Second question: In this sense, do you advise that we autonomous prospectors who use
the government's mining maps as one of the means to identify the areas with incidence and registered with gold and other gems, we must doubt
from those areas recorded with other gold host ores? and based on the geology of the site and on tests? because as I said: the little for a big company can be a lot for us autonomous!!....
You questions are specific to Brazil and Brazilian mining laws. I am not familiar with the mining laws of Brazil. So it is difficult to answer. I am sure your English is better than my Portuguese, but we also have a language problem of my understanding what you are asking as much is lost in the translation.
Glacial deposits I heard are another way placer can be deposited. Great info!
Its erosion of glacial moraines that makes deposits. The glaciers themselves destroy placer deposits by mixing them all up with barren gravels.
Great presentation, very informative.
Glad it was helpful!
Hey Chris, I have a geology related questions. For years I've found gold in the old timer dry diggings on the sides of hills. Here and there there is rough pieces of quartz float. But alot of these places have mostly round smooth quartz rocks and are not even close to a water course where they could have gotten water worn. How did these quartz rocks get round and smooth? I'm sure they didn't come out of the vein being that round. Thank you again for another informative video. Been Watching for years. Good luck on your next golden adventure.
If the quartz is really rounded and smooth, its been in a stream at some time. I know where there are rounded quartz boulders that are a long ways from any drainage - but long ago they were in a river.
@@ChrisRalph thank you Chris for the answer.
Hey Chris I'm moving over 20 miles east of Showlow AZ new territory for me. Lots of volcanic rock I'm going to be doing some billygoating I've found far more silver than gold in the senator hywy area's
Best of luck to you in your efforts.
I love gold. Im metal detecting this year and its highly addictive.
It is very addictive - I've enjoyed it for years.
@@ChrisRalph it has completely changed the way i look at the ground here in az lol
I just got back from Dawson city Yukon. I found it interesting that I found very little black sand .
I have gold claims Fort steel bc / Boulder creek, wild horse also basically no black sand.
Thoughts ?
Black sands are frequently found with gold, but its not required. Gold can be found without black sand. Black sand comes from the weathering of some types of rocks - there are many places with loads of black sand but no gold.
Love the video, do have any videos covering heavy black sand removal, I am having a issue with my box being filled with black sand but it has good colors, maybe I can send you a 5gal bucket of the material and maybe could give some insite, love this channel 😀 😊
I have a couple of videos on dealing with back sand, take a look at my older videos.
I live in victorville CA. I believe that there was dredging here I noticed that after it rains on the hillside there are little veins that traveling down and stop at the bottom and makes pile when it dries it resembles a miniature 🌋 volcano. It's mostly lighter than the rest of the surrounding dirt ,shiny, mud is what it looks like. Is it gold I don't know but there's piles of it here in my backyard
Gold is not light - in fact it is much heavier than lead. Take a look at my video on how to ID gold see - th-cam.com/video/A2Ym_xwAqyU/w-d-xo.html
I love your videos I've learned so much from. Them it's rilly cool that you r trying to get the information out there and you can tell you know what you r talking about good job keep them coming 👍 👏 😉
Thanks, Glad you like them!
Supposedly the lodes around here were already eroded down. Waldo district Southern Oregon. Illinois river, Sucker Creek, and Althouse Creek watersheds.
There is some hard rock mining in those areas.
@@ChrisRalph i mean the lodes that deposited the placers
Thanks Chris great class
Glad you enjoyed it.
I am from Nova Scotia, Canada. Goldboro Gold Mine is only kms away from where I would like to prospect. Granite rock for as far as you can see. Quartz seams all over the area. I would like to see some granite/quartz show or podcast. Is metal detection good for determining if a quartz seam has gold in it? Can quartz seams in granite be dug out with pick and shovel ?
Lots of questions.
Is metal detection good for determining if a quartz seam has gold in it? Yes, if the gold in the vein is coarse enough. Metal detectors do not see tiny dust sized particles of gold. I have no idea what is present in the Goldboro.
Can quartz seams in granite be dug out with pick and shovel ? yes, if the granite is weathered enough. If hard an unweathered, then no.
Chris Jb from Australia could you clue us up on supergene deposits
I'll put it on my list.
My mom's on a creek, tributary of Medina river, in Bandera county TX and I've always been curious if there is any in there, you don't hear much about gold in the TX hill country.
There is known gold in the river at Plano.
@@ChrisRalph must be the llano river, it's the only gold bearing waterway I'm aware of in Texas.
You are right, its the llano, not Plano.
Chris is a human encyclopedia of geology and gold prospecting. In fact a few of his videos have made me suspect that he's probably a geology teacher as a side gig, or was in the past. Such a kind and helpful guy in his TH-cam videos. That said, I wouldn't ever want to get on his bad side. There's something about him that reminds me a little bit of Walter White. Maybe he's the Heisenberg of prospecting lol!
I have to admit its the first time I've been compared to Walter White! Thanks. Heisenberg is better.
Cheers Chris👍👍👍
Thanks and all the best to you.
The whole schist thing has me curious, I work in a geological wonderland, but it was never known for gold…BUT there are all the signs and the insane geology and other minerals and metals that are abundant…I wish I could just show you in person! But I do know of a spot, that has 2 tunnels that go back into a basalt cliff, one of them is directly on a vein of something but no idea what it is or what they were looking for…
I get gobs of requests for consultation, evaluations, training, assistance, etc. However, I have so many of my own projects, I simply dont have time to get involved with other people's projects. Sorry.
@@ChrisRalph totally get it. I’m in the same boat, my situation is pretty special. I’m a signal maintainer and my territory is the southern half of the deschutes river canyon in central Oregon. Only access is the river or the railroad for over 100 miles and it’s mind blowing! Virtually untouched area since the early 1900’s
I recently discovered your channel, and you and Myron Cook are my new favorites! I know Utah is known more for fossils and gemstones more than any valuable minerals and ores, (excluding kennecott copper) but I was wondering if you knew of anything in Utah that is worth prospecting with possible locales (I was thinking cobalt or lithium in the southeast quarter specifically around the San Rafael swell? Thanks!
There is placer gold in Utah. Not vast amounts, but amounts worth going after. I recommend a book called "Gold Panning Utah" by Alan Chenworth. There are also many hard rock gold deposits in Utah. Utah produces gems like Topaz. There are rock hound books like: Rockhounding Utah, 2nd: A Guide to the State's Best Rockhounding Sites - available on Amazon. Check out web pages like: rockhoundresource.com/utah-rockhounding-location-guide-map/
Use Google to search and you will find lots of info.
I live & play off of south fork tuolumne river , lot of mysteries not too much written , more exploration and documentation needed
Do some research on Google, I think you will find some info....
@@ChrisRalph they were more interested in lumber. The geology is nutz up here. small but rich veins were found in quartz a few miles upstream. but I suspect monzonite, schistose clay as well as tertiary deposits go undiscovered. It doesn't help when every rock is a great indicator of au, and you can get lots of blk sand & 0 color(probably from past dredging). Best I've found is .1 meteoric/pitted looking pickers & little wire gold. mercury spotted areas from the past. not a novice spot , but the mystery keeps me goin lol🤙
I have located a good placer in Iowa, but its more than 100ft underground so its very hard to exploit :(
Try the beds of creeks and streams.
@@ChrisRalph That's how I've figured out where it is. Its actually a fascinating journey so far of studying history and geology to narrow it down. I am in the process of taking samples from various places to attempt to isolate the exact location of the lodes.
The whole region I am talking about is a real mystery even to the geologists who live there. There are so many questions about how many glaciers hit here and where all their morianes ended up. From what I can tell there are several that all dumped their rock in the same area because there is a very stark line between the waterways where gold is found and those where none is found.
Most of the rest of the minerals mined in this state are from hydrothermal deposits that came up into at least the metamorphic rock so they range from 500-1200 feet down from the surface. There are a few areas that are exceptions to that though and its certainly possible some of the gold the glaciers swept up was local in origin. We got delayed by heatwave, but we'll document our adventures looking for it soon here!
Nice explanation of why you might see it and why you wont
Exactly. Glad you enjoyed the video.
A friend of mine gave me some Alaska gold he panned. When they lowered Toledo Bend Lake on the La/Tx border to work on the dam I went to the end of the lake fishing. Nobody was supposed to be behind the dam but me and a guy went to look at the bedrock there. I found a lot of flour gold in holes worn in the bedrock. I collected samples but forgot and left them in the guy`s truck and he threw the cup away it was in. I know for a fact it was gold and there was a lot of it directly behind the dam. I tested it on the bumper of his truck by smearing it with a knife to show him but he laughed at me. He`d never seen gold before. I saw a comment on a forum from a guy who claimed he used a dredge in a boat in the Sabine River below Logansport, La and he claimed he found large nuggets. Before they made the dam there were bedrock slabs in the river visible when it was low that looked just like what I saw behind the dam.
An Interesting occurrence.
have you done much prospecting in the mountain ranch , ca area?
Not really. Spent time in Mariposa, and up towards Jackson, but not Mountain Ranch. Do some research on Google.
I don't have any 6" Miners however I do have a 10" Pianist.
Unfortunately my musician won't perform on my Organ.
Won't even place Tulips on it. :(
Hmmmmm.......
You can also get rough gold far from the source if the host rock travel's down stream before it is broke down to release the gold
True, but only a small percentage does that.
Man dude Chris Ralph!
YOU ARE NOT JOKING WHEN U SAY WHAT U KNOW DIRECTLY AFFECTS THE AMOUNT OF SUCCESS YOU HAVE PROSPECTING.
The more I learn about why the gold is where it is, the easier it is to find and the better specimens I get. I live in the peninsular ranges of Southern California. My city is like built on Goldfields and the vast majority of folks don't know, aren't interested and wouldn't even believe u if tell them and show them a crystalline nugget and a diamond. There's little hints tho in the names of the streets, many of the names are of places or people that have some association with gold and gold tellurides. The history of the local mining is very deceiving by my city hostorical society, it's kinda decieving. I intend to stake my own claim as I've found several rich epithermal gold deposits here as well as a diamondiferous kimberlite pipe.
Wow I should've proofread that
I meant to say the historical gold production of my area is very down played by this city's historical society. It's kind of deceiving.
I also have a theory that a certain deposit type I've come across here may have been unrecognized as it had yet to be identified during the original gold rush. Which would explain the downplayed historical significance of the local gold mining.
Best of luck to you in your prospecting efforts.
Sometimes veins that are small erode away and the gold stays in place or not far from origin even thow no vein there left to be sent
Usually erosion enough to wipe away a vein is also enough to more the gold around.
I enjoyed this episode
Glad to hear you liked it.
I have an ancient river channel running through my property period the rock is so old and brittle that it fractures into pieces making it hard to notice the round river erosion of the rock. It took me many years to realize this. Luckily I had a job 😅 And The old-timers cover the pay with downed Trees and limbs and bark period they really went out of their way to do this and they did a great job period I finally cracked the code.
That is really interesting. Best of luck to you.
Ok we need to go find some Lodes !!!!!!!!!
There you go! Had enough rain yet?
@@ChrisRalph nope we need it to move those boulders!!!!!
Hi Chris, enjoy the videos and am reading through your book at the present while on a trip. I do have a question about what is happening in a creek system in SW Oregon when there is no gold or flakes to be found in the lower sections of the creek even after multiple tests but higher up the creek, 3/4 mile up, there are sections of creek bank that shows evidences of extensive hydroblasting with prolific large green stones. What factors makes the gold disappear in the lower sections of a creek when the early miners obviously expended a lot of effort in the upper reaches? It seems that the gold would be channeling and gravity should cause it to be detectable in the lower drainage. Baffled.
Thanks
You're very welcome
Thanks mate
No worries! (said with an Aussie accent)
I have a question Chris Ralph. Okay I sold my impact Mill to a gentleman. He has a degree in biology been through college whole nine yards. He's mining decomposing granite out of Nevada but he's able to extract Platinum group medals. Is that possible? He would roast a sulfur out. Take the magnetite hematite out of it magnetically. Electro win I don't know if I'm spelling that correctly then put it in a pressure vessel up to 2500 lb PSI
Lets just say I am highly skeptical of his claim that he is getting platinum out of granite. Its theoretically possible but not likely.
@@ChrisRalph I felt the same way. He had so much technical data over my head.
You know how many people I know who have platinum bearing black sands? A lot! But none of them ever have any platinum.
I have 151gram gold nugget found in kite ga
That's great.
Heyyy! Don't be telling everybody this stuff! Took a lot of years and hard work to learn all this!
The trick is to then take the knowledge and turn it into gold.....
@@ChrisRalph That's the tough part! I've been chasing little nugs for the last week. Ragged, crystalline with quite a bit of rock in some. It hatched out right there! Got 2 today and then dug 6 feet and nothing! Poking left, poking right, poking straight ahead, frustrating! Got 31 pieces and it seems I lost the scent. Try, try again!
Hi Chris how are you been trying to find a way to speak to you about a mine in the Dominican Republic would their be a way to contact you ? I sent you a message on Facebook if that works please reach out to me thanks
Hi - I have so many of my own projects, I dont get involved with other people's projects, I just dont have enough time. Sorry.
Just give me a chance the benefit of the doubt! You might not be Abel to handle it but could steer me into the right direction on finding a potential buyer