There's Gold In Them Eastern Hills, Too

Article Tools

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

TENNESSEE: In 1831, Monroe County was the scene of a local gold rush when the elusive yellow metal was found in Coca Creek. An area of several square miles produced almost $50,000 in gold dust in a very short time. The source of the placer deposits was never found.

VERMONT: Placer gold has been located almost statewide, and has been commercially mined in the Bethel section of the White River. Also, several mines were worked around the Bridgewater and Plymouth areas.

VIRGINIA: Many nuggets of almost pure gold have been discovered in the Dan River near Clarksville. There were also several producing mines in Virginia's northeastern hills till at least 1917.

Wherever you seek your fortune, and no matter how much you find, there's nothing on earth to match the thrill you'll feel when you look in your pan and suddenly see that golden gleam. No doubt you'll echo the cry of many grizzled forty-niners. . . "Eureka! It's gold!"

SEEK THE SOURCE

All the gold that washes into a stream or river originated in deposits back in the hills . . . so the way to really "strike it rich" is to find one of these veins or concentrations of the metal. If you carefully and painstakingly follow traces upstream, dig here and there, and closely watch the quantity of "color" in each pan change . . . you may be able to locate the spot where the gold enters the river. Many fortunes have been found in this way . . . including the fabulous Peralta mines in Arizona.

If you do discover such a rare "Eldorado", you'll probably want to file a mining claim. This complicated-and often expensive-process (as well as many other practical aspects of gold prospecting) is very clearly explained in Looking for Gold: The Modern Prospector's Handbook by Bradford Angier (Stackpole Books, 1975) , $5.95 ($6.95 as of September, 1979). The volume can be ordered-for the listed price plus 95¢ shipping and handling-from Mother's Bookshelf, P.O. Box 70, Hendersonville, North Carolina 28739.

Remember, too, that most people with claims run big dredges . . . carry guns night and day . . . and are pretty serious about what they're doing. So if you want to pan in an area that's already been staked out, I strongly advise that you ask permission from whoever is working the claim. I've yet to be refused such a request, as the dredges concentrate on digging the bottom of the river . . . where the heaviest gold is usually (but not always!) found.

THE AMALGAMATION PROCESS

After panning for a long time, you'll eventually get quite a collection of black sand mixed with fine gold dust. The only practical way to separate the material is to amalgamate it with mercury. For this procedure, you'll need perhaps an ounce of quicksilver and your pan.

First, cover about half the pan's bottom with the sand mixture, add a little water, and "pack" the material with a can or bottle . . . which should be moved around in a circular pattern to polish the gold. (A few tablespoons of water softener-added at this time-may help the amalgamation process.) After grinding for 10 minutes or more, add a drop of mercury about the size of a plump pea (or approximately twice as much mercury as there is gold to be recovered).

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print