Nuggets Vs Fine Gold In The Dirt

[tvanwho]

Just was wondering if you nugget hunters find fine gold/flakes in the same dirt you find gold nuggets in?

Do you go back and drywash/highbank those areas?

Just curious.

-Tom

[IdahoPeg]

I've had some success drywashing dry bench areas that I've found small nuggets in while detecting. I get all I can with the Goldbug 2 then start shoveling dirt into my Thompson puffer....it's fun and I can squeak out an extra gram or so! :-)

[LipCa]

Years ago, I took 72 nuggets/pickers totaling almost 1/2 oz. out of a two foot area. Most likely a "sluice robber" clay ball.

Never thought about checking the dirt for fines!  Dummy......

[jasong]

I replied to you in my trade ad before I saw this post, but here's what I typed since I doubt many people will read it there:

Tom - It's a question I had too before I started detecting for gold, and the answer is that it varies but you might be surprised that sometimes there just is nothing but nuggets. Some patches have almost nothing under half a grain or so but then others are worth drywashing. You'd be surprised how many great patches weren't even worth drywashing though. The only somewhat consistent exceptions I've found are "patches" in fairly active seasonal washes or on benches, they tend to be worth drywashing maybe around half or more of the time. Just my experience, I'm sure it varies place to place and also by what a person considers "worth it". 

[whitebutler]

I would have to say if you have an area you might want to sample pan down hill to ether side. I have personally not found a great deal of fine in the same area. I have found lower areas  down hill and more so to one side than the other. Depending on. The slope angle and type of soil and rocks. 

It's a puzzle made from nature. It's our past time and hobby to try and solve it. 

Cheers

John

[Giddiup]

Hoping i can soon answer your question with first hand experience! Weather permitting i'll get out with my pan to a mile long section of river that has been kind to me with the detector - 100 odd pieces. About 50% under 0.5gm, 30% 0.5 - 1gm and the rest under 4gm with the exception of a 2 ouncer! Being a known alluvial area I'm sure there will be some colours (but its gold so who knows right?)....I'm keen to see if they are concentrated in the same little pockets that most of the sub half grammers came from....Was always too excited getting nuggets to slow down and pan! Stay tuned!!!!

[Steve Herschbach]

I have worked areas in Alaska where gold was found with a detector and found many additional ounces of fine gold or larger deeper gold the detectors would not touch. You really can't know what you are not finding with a detector unless you do at least a little sampling with pan, sluice, or drywasher.

[Chris Ben]

It's worth a shot, and most of the desert washes I find nuggets in will have fines, and will probably be worth drywashing. With that being said I have found washes with nuggets and almost no fines. So you never know

Chris 

[Bear]

I have seen this go both ways.  I one particular creek I found a 2.5 pennyweight nugget in a crack in bedrock with a lot of flake and fine gold around it.  A few hundred yards down stream later I found two pennyweight nuggets with hardly any flake.  After I found the two nuggets a guy told me his brother had dredged in the same spot and found over an ounce of nuggets all about the same size with very little fine gold.

[Reno Chris]

A few years back in Alaska, Steve found a patch that yielded just shy of 100 small nuggets on a stream bench. Afew days later, another friend (George) and I dug it up and ran it through a high banker. It took a few days to dig and run, but we got a little over 2 ounces of fines.

It does go both ways worth it and not - it just depends. If you get a bunch of nuggets close together, its well worth taking a few samples to see if its worth processing.