my brother in laws ranch

Black sand is an indicator of the possibility of gold being present. You will almost always find it in a pan full of river gold but you won't have any guarantee of finding gold in black sand.

If the riverbed is known to contain gold, keep digging to bedrock. If you are merely prospecting the area, move on to somewhere that is easier to get to bedrock. That's the key. Finding bedrock and classifying all the gravel and sand above it before panning.

Watch out for flash floods during those Texas rainfalls.

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Pops, the good news is not only do you live in a part of Texas that has historical records of gold fines (not too mention a lost gold mine legend or two), but at least one other member of this forum has regularly found gold in the same area.

As for me, the next time I go visit my Dad in Llano, I'm taken my pan with me.

BA

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Hey Idaho....

Black sand is always a god indicator of the presence of gold... however... it is only an indicator... The sand here in central Texas has a lot of iron in it... often the locals call it ..."Iron Sand"... Since Texas isn't noted for its gold... more than likely, there may not be any there.. but you won't know for sure until you do some serious testing... if you feel like it.. go ahead and dig... but don't get your hopes up to high....

I know of a creek in Southern California that had commercial hard rock gold mines back in the day on both sides up the canyon... and its a rather deep canyon...and the creek has sooooooooo much black sand.... but yet just a 1/2 mile down stream there is NO gold in the creek gravels... the placer deposit is local to the old seams of quartz laidden gold...

Remember, a 1 ounce natural gold nugget of 85% pure gold or better, will move about 1 inch in about 100 years of normal winter rain cycles, including the seasonal flooding waters.... Boulders the size of pick up trucks will roll down stream a couple of miles in 100 years... but that 1 ounce nugget just about 1 inch... I've never be able to prove this, but I did read about it somewhere......And from a practical stand point... watch the small flakes of gold in your sluice box... if properly set up, they really do not mover far once they have found the bottom of your box and carpet...

While gold is where you find it... there are some very common physical properties you can depend on when prospecting for gold....

More than likely you have discovered a heavy placer Iron deposit.....

This what prospecting is all about... testing...looking...seeking... and who knows... maybe you'll find or discover something others over looked for years.... "....Gold is where you find it...."

Good luck in your prospecting...


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It has been raining and cold. As soon as it warms up I am going to beat the heck out of  the creek. Here is a little thing I picked up out of the trap this morning. About 200#s. We had 2 4x4 trucks,mine and my sons. This is my sons after I got him unstuck!!! 

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Your in the Right Area!

Hit it.

 

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