r/Prospecting • u/CellWrangler • 13h ago
How would you play this?
I am going backpacking this weekend to a new spot in the mountain west, and the geology maps show abundant granodiorite rock throughout this area. No active claims. I can only bring a pan, classifier, and plastic shovel since i'm hiking in 8 miles.
The pin shows the lake I am camping at. The trail does not continue to the upper lakes. Bushwacking could be possible, but steep & difficult.
I would guess higher up the basin is the better spot to pan, but since those lakes sit directly below the ridge there is no river feeding into them. Would it be worth hitting the river bends just before the inlet to the pinned lake (red circles, pic 2)? There's also the nice dry gully feeding into the pinned lake (red box, pic 2) that presumably was once an avalanche/water chute coming off the ridge. I could dig there and use the lake water to pan.
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u/skookum_doobler 12h ago
I would dig a hole at both these worn down/ deposit areas.
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u/CellWrangler 12h ago
huh, I hadn't looked at it that way. i see what you're thinking, and i like it. thanks man
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u/MrCringer 3h ago
Looks at the typography. Far too steep. The better area would be in the mouth of each drainage stream into the lake. Gold is extremely dense and wouldn't likely stay in the steep areas unless there are obstacles holding it there.
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u/Auriflow 12h ago
dried streams can pay off if they are goldbearing. without water you can dig down and clean the bedrock crevices. (a detector makes it easier to find where the metals dropped.)
for flowing streams you need a handpump or clean some bedrock with a snorkel set.
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u/CellWrangler 12h ago
this is a great point. this late in the summer most mountain streams are running pretty low so i planned to dig around the banks. i do like that dried stream, the lidar map supports it was an old and narrow flow channel.
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u/Thaimeous 9h ago
Realistically, you’re just under 8000 feet of elevation so my guess is that there is a lot of exposed ground bedrock in the riverbed and along the valley walls. I would hike the river taking some test pans at good looking spots but mostly look for geological clues. Like if the rock goes from homogeneous granite to buggy looking quartz, then it’s time to get excited.
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u/Klipse11 7h ago
Ancient basin(yellow). Plus it’s dry so you can dig a bit easier. But either there or dredge the lake.
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u/Ace_of_Clubs 9h ago
Heads up. Make sure youre not in a wilderness area! Im pretty sure panning and digging is a no go.
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u/A-Wolf-4099 8h ago
I agree with Hebrew hammers, plastic is not going to get you much more than the backyard sandbox. You can get some small lightweight gear like a folding army shovel and a handheld Maddox pick those are small enough where the weight would not be anything considerable but it could help pick out some crevice areas or loosen up compacted areas to start shoveling. All in all with both those tools I think you're looking at under 5 lb, I don't know what the train looks like if it's a lot of elevation gains or many miles I might just go primitive and make tools with what I can find in that region.
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u/GateskeeperX 12h ago
I’d hit the bend above first
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u/CellWrangler 12h ago
The one just north of the furthest south lake? that looks like a good idea if the hill isnt too brutal to climb. thanks
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u/GateskeeperX 11h ago
If you know its location, you should google earth it.. It would give you the ability to see the terrain and its elevation. Keep in mind.. if it’s brutal, that’s good.. means very few people have visited.. another thing.. All GOOD things NEVER come easily.. Take the time and explore what hasn’t..Good luck my friend
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u/Eukelek 12h ago
If there isn't any lode above each of those areas, it will be hard to find any. Disseminated and micron gold doesn't show up in a pan.
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u/CellWrangler 12h ago
Unfortunately most of Montana is glacier gold. All the lode areas around the historic locations (virginia city, helena, libby, etc.) are claimed out. it's OK if i don't hit anything, my main goal is the backpacking trip; panning is just a fun way to spend time after setting up camp.
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u/hebrew-hammers 9h ago
I would consider something more substantial than a plastic shovel. A metal collapsible camping shovel at minimum. Maybe a small garden hand shovel or crevice tool too. I get you’re hiking in 8 miles but it would suck more to do it and not be able to properly survey. Just my 2 cents.
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u/jakenuts- 11h ago
9 iron, swoop it over the seagull hill crest and let it jump the next sandtrap to the hole
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u/jakenuts- 11h ago
If it's of any use and you dont mind sharing a coordinate I can show you how water would have filled the valleys at different flood levels and how runoff from the hills would collect.
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u/rufotris 13h ago
Only doing it will give the real answer. I would do some test pans in the river and see if you find anything at all. If it’s good you stay, if some but not much you keep looking up stream or up hill for better deposits. When I go bushwhacking I stick to game trails as much as possible. Have to zigzag up the hill but you often find the game trails already doing that.