Not a whodunit, howwouldyoudoit?

[easy goer]

You have one month to decide:

Remote area, no geophysical data available, auriferous soils and gravels are known to exist in this area. Rivers, creeks and benches are present.
You have access to an ATV for travel, you are able to stay in the area after a day of prospecting.
Tools for prospecting are a pan, shovel, ¼” screen, #30 mesh screen and #50 mesh screen. Small steam sluice with a powerhead which will allow you to operate it as a mini high banker, gas Honda GXH 50cc to power high banker. Adequate water for prospecting.

How would you do it? Where would you start? What would you look for? What type of values would you expect to find? What type of values would you need to see to return?
Academic exercise, please impart your wisdom on the less experienced.

Thanks,

Easy goer

[Joe S (AK)]

Say there Big Easy!

First I'd stockpile the pump, hoses and the sluice box / highbanker. They aren't for searching for gold (prospecting) but rather for later recovery efforts.

So, traveling light, yet comfortable enough, it's time to strike off looking for better than usual concentrations of Gold.

Better than I ever could explain (and because it still IS winter right now) here is something to keep you taking notes and yet is still short enough to finish in 20 minutes or so:

*********

http://www.online-literature.com/london/49/

*********

Joe

[Micropedes1]

That makes for a good tale. And the process then is just as valid now. Pan, shovel, sluice, and screen 1/4”. Nothing more.

Can you be more specific about location? PM me if necessary.

[Geowizard]

Kougarok...

- Geowizard

[easy goer]

Say there Big Easy!

First I'd stockpile the pump, hoses and the sluice box / highbanker. They aren't for searching for gold (prospecting) but rather for later recovery efforts.

So, traveling light, yet comfortable enough, it's time to strike off looking for better than usual concentrations of Gold.

Better than I ever could explain (and because it still IS winter right now) here is something to keep you taking notes and yet is still short enough to finish in 20 minutes or so:

*********

http://www.online-literature.com/london/49/

*********

Joe

Thanks for the memories! I remember reading this when I was in grade school. Call of the Wild and White Fang were two of the first books I read, end of the first grade, early second grade. Was way more difficult getting books back then. Hard to believe London was a Socialist!
Good prospecting advice! Steam sluice and powerhead are coming along for the ride, understood you have to find something to run before you break them out. Hopefully find something good enough to work, I don't want to go home empty handed!
Thanks,
Easy goer

[Joe S (AK)]

Yes, great entertainment as a story, but now, later in life, a rather good example of good prospecting upstream technique - to find sources for Gold and pocket Gold as well.

Easy ------- it's STREAM sluice, not a steam sluice

And yes, he was a flaming socialist - but none of us are perfect I guess.

Some of his other stories are really good to read in the winters when pretty much snowbound (except for those in "The Big Easy" that is.

Joe

[easy goer]

Mine is steam, wanted the gas model but it was too expensive !! Thats why you can't edit what you write effectively, I didn't know what you were talking about till I reread it twice!!

Thanks,

Easy goer

[Jim_Alaska]

Unless you guys are talking about something else; a stream sluice to me is powered by the stream, hence the name "stream sluice".

[easy goer]

Jim,

You are correct about that, Joe was poking fun at my poor spelling! Being from Louisiana we ain't too good on book learnin!!
Being uncertain as to the volume of the stream I will have my small Honda engine available to make my own stream where necessary.

Thanks,

Easy goer

[Joe S (AK)]

I thought it was just a typo - and 'went for it', obviously, all in fun!

For almost my whole life I had trouble with spelling one word..... "maybe". For some silly reason I just, as a child, never could settle on a spelling for it. Finally, in frustration, in my middle years, I carefully found the correct spelling, meticulously wrote it down on a post-it and used it as a crutch beside the PC Monitor until, at last, I didn't need it any more.

It seems silly now but that was just the way it was.

I knew someone from long ago who pronounced "Honestly" as "Honestree". Again, just one of those things that make us all unique. Of course there was "Canadian Ben", in Trapper Creek, who repeatedly used word pronunciation ~~approximations~~ which made for interesting conversations!

Joe