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Dikes Around Turkey Creek


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tvanwho - At first I focused on detecting around the base of these dikes but soon learned, the simple thing was to "test" the washes down lower. Don't forget, nature has her obstacles! I did climb to look closely at these dikes, especially if I could see any quartz veins in them. The time required to get to some of these dikes was an investment, Also, navigating thru the terrain, cactus, greasewood and every other bush that held thorns, along with the jumping cholla, well, it took time. I will say I always had the best luck in the red soil. Also, I found ancient stream beds up high that yielded some of the bigger finds but they were well below the dikes.

 

I am getting more photos ready to upload. The Tunnels - I will explain more about what I learned in that thread.

 

chickenminer - I hated to leave! I have never felt more free at any time in my life. Rock hounding  is always a good way to track down gold. I found some nice crystals while hiking in those mountains, leading me to very mineralized grounds. Sometimes we have to pay attention to what is right under our feet. It might not be gold underfoot but what is underfoot can give some great clues.

 

I've never met a nugget I didn't like!

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Thanks Beardog,

 

I found an area with heavy red iron gossan type rocks and red clays/dirt below the gossan in a steep wash. One whole foothill is solid dark red, on the satellite view anyway.  The spot looks a lot like the Vulture gold mine site over by Wickenburg. That mine was found when Henry Wickenburg spotted a tall red iron gossan outcrop out in the distance and went to investigate. He found gold in the red dirt by panning.Too bad he sold out too soon and died in poverty...

  So how do you approach these red areas? Take in some water and test pan, metal detect, VLF or PI? Will the nuggets, if any, tend to be on the steep slopes, in the red dirt/clay, or will gravity take them downstream to a flatter area?

 I hope to be out there myself next spring, March perhaps. Could sure use a hunting partner for safety. I have Whites TDi, MXT, Lobo ST, and GB2 detectors ,but only 1 small gold specimen detected so far, and I got that in Alaska.

  Not much big gold to find in the Midwest where I live and its almost all private ground.

 

 -Tom

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tvanwho - I would encourage you to join a club if your planning to spend some time in Az. As in any gold country, the land will be claimed. I joined the Roadrunners Prospecting Club before I headed out. They have an extensive holding of claims thru out Az. Many of their claims adjoin BLM and Forest Service land where there is much unclaimed land to hunt on.

 

Red soil, for me, has to have other indicators before I invest more than just a quick look. I want to see quartz, iron stone and other igneous indicators. Red soil is not a definitive marker for gold - all red soil is not created equal.

 

I used a PI machine  while I was out there, a Garrett Infinium LS with 8 inch mono coil. It worked well for me in that hot soil. I'm not saying a VLF won't work, if you know your machine and the audio tones.

 

And, I did not haul water to pan with. I keep a Garrett SP 14 gold pan in my pack. Dry panning is most easily accomplished with a pan that has a large bottom area - such as the SP 14 or their Super Sluice pan. Along with the pan I carry a piece of 1/4 inch hardware cloth to classify with. I cut a 14 inch diameter circle from the hardware cloth so it fits nicely in the pan.

 

My next big adventure is going to be to NorCal. I am a life member of the New 49'ers and have my sights set on Happy Camp for 2016.

 

HH Bro!

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