This video is part of a Gold Mining and Mineral Prospecting course. In this video I explain how I would sample a gravel bar to find a pay streak of gold.
Wow! These kids are being given a wealth of extraordinary information and from what I am seeing, they couldn't care less. I would have loved to be in this class when I was younger.
100% agree with you!! I was thinking take theses kids out of there if they don’t want to be there! Mr. Hurds knowledge is a gold mind and I’d want to absorb as much as I could.
I love how Mr. Hurd gets excited when someone asks a question 🙋🏻♂️. I would drive home crazy asking questions to try and get as much knowledge from him as possible and hang on almost every word.
I realise its an old vid but im just starting out love the way you explain what you are doing and why you doing it wish I had teachers like you when I was at school cheers from down under
Way cool lessons, Dan! I'm a retired teacher and appreciate the details so important answering the "Why's" and "How's" suitable for our dry deserts as well. In Arizona we have public placer areas for panning, detectors, and dry washers. If one belongs to GPAA, LDMA, and/or Roadrunners, all the better. Your corrections for behavior bring back my Jr High classroom days. You have your snowmelt for yearly cycles. We have our monsoons. The detectorists have found using your pay streak methods with their iron discriminators to follow the surface black sand/iron/magnetite streaks yield more samples beneath. WooHoo! Thank you ever so much. Is Ogo-Pogo still scaring folks on the lake with mysterious bow-waves? :-)
Another great video! I've watched a lot of your videos and you always talk about the inside bend.. Would a big run off cut on the side of a mountain be an exception to the rule if it lands on the outside of the bend? I found a spot has a cut the size of two football fields at the top of the mountain, funnels down to a crazy steep bedrock channel and comes basically straight down to the creek but it's on the outside of a bigger bend. There's a ton of flood trash here too but inside bend is relatively cleaned and worked. Should I keep digging the outside? 6 hours and two flakes so far but about two foot down I just hit large smooth river rock so I'm thinking I'm not even near the bedrock yet?
do you pan all of the material as you dig down? Or only the material nearing the bottom? How do you know or get an Idea of when to start panning versus just overburden when looking for the paystreak. Does the amount of material panned vary once you are on the paystreak vs when you are finding it? Thank you so much! Love all of the vids and especially the informative ones about finding gold. I have gone out almost every day for 3 months and videos like this along with trial and error have been my only teacher. Much appreciated
hey dan i have a good one for ya, theres a huge boulder in the center of the creek, just before it on one side is a bedrock ledge extending into the creek. the water goes around the boulder then crashes into the bedrock and carved out a loop around the boulder out of the bank. so does this throw the gold out from under the boulder .?really stumped. -hangtown mark.
Good Stuff. Wish we had courses like this back in my day. I had Shop classes like Electronics (Became a Teachers Assistant for three years) Wood working, and Sheet metal. Wanted machine shop but never managed to get in. These kids here today don't get the opportunity to do this stuff any more. I think the have a Shop class for Condom Use ?
Great job teaching Dan ! Thanks ! I heard the question/answer about how wide should the trench be and the depth comment, but that is one of my biggest questions also. How deep should I dig when sampling? Sometimes even in a small stream it seems like the gravels never end. Should you always dig down all the way down to clay,hard pack or rock?
+Dan Hurd I am wondering the same about how far down is your sampling trench? It has always seemed to me that sampling is not meant to be a four day excursion so I have the impression when people sample, they only go down a foot or so.
+musketeer333 Each situation is different. and yes sampling can take multiple days, weeks, or years. On a quick one day test, I will usually work in the top foot. Unless something indicates that I should go deeper. Anything more than about 2 feet down and you are now talking some serious digging.
In scotland many of the rivers we do have no gold at all in the gravels so makes it hard to sample so you have to go much deeper to find the gold an then make your decision on what you find .
So essentially what I'm hearing here is that instead of just going and sampling the best way to make an informative gas is to find some way whether it be a stick sticking straight up out of the ground marking where the water levels were to give you a better idea of where that paystreak is likely to be
Regarding gravel bar material.. Do you start with the surface material for samples, or remove and discard several inches first? I'm guessing that you scrape away the top few inches? And once you've reached your sample depth, how deep do you go before moving laterally?
Hi Dan, I have found a large area of compacted gravel after an inside bend. I sampled this compacted gravel on the inside bend, only to find that it is only compacted at surface level. Once you dig down past the first few inches of tightly compacted gravel it becomes wet and loose. Is it worth just sluicing the top few inches of compacted gravel, rather than digging down into the endless wet loose gravel. No sign of bedrock under it? Thanks Jason
How deep do the pay streaks go? I've found a couple panning then set up my highbanker and dig a big hole, just to find the gold was only on the surface and wasted my time digging to China.
+Simon Jones Yes they can be there, usually out more in the middle of the water. Draw a line from one corner strait to the next corner. the paystreak should be somewhere close to this line.
Wow! These kids are being given a wealth of extraordinary information and from what I am seeing, they couldn't care less. I would have loved to be in this class when I was younger.
100% agree with you!! I was thinking take theses kids out of there if they don’t want to be there! Mr. Hurds knowledge is a gold mind and I’d want to absorb as much as I could.
Dude.
I was there in spirit!!! Sitting front row!!! Taking notes and the hole 9 yards... I loved this clip !!!!!! Thanks a ton .
I love how Mr. Hurd gets excited when someone asks a question 🙋🏻♂️. I would drive home crazy asking questions to try and get as much knowledge from him as possible and hang on almost every word.
It's nice to be back in highschool again! Learning a lot, thank you.
I kept hearing you say “pastries”. Hahahahaha I must be hungry. Awesome videos Dan, thanks for all your hard work.
I realise its an old vid but im just starting out love the way you explain what you are doing and why you doing it
wish I had teachers like you when I was at school cheers from down under
I'm really glad that you have put these classes onto UA-cam. I'm learning a lot about finding and panning gold. :)
Awesome information! Keep up the good work!
this is sooooooo interesting! thank you for uploading this video!
Way cool lessons, Dan! I'm a retired teacher and appreciate the details so important answering the "Why's" and "How's" suitable for our dry deserts as well. In Arizona we have public placer areas for panning, detectors, and dry washers. If one belongs to GPAA, LDMA, and/or Roadrunners, all the better. Your corrections for behavior bring back my Jr High classroom days. You have your snowmelt for yearly cycles. We have our monsoons. The detectorists have found using your pay streak methods with their iron discriminators to follow the surface black sand/iron/magnetite streaks yield more samples beneath. WooHoo! Thank you ever so much. Is Ogo-Pogo still scaring folks on the lake with mysterious bow-waves? :-)
great video series Dan you make the information very accessible and usable. I use your videos as one of the major basis of my study congratulations
This video helped me a lot. Ty Dan!
Dan, great info ..
keep up the great video's!
Thanks Dan for very useful and informative lectures, may Allah bless you!
I love it when he stops and gives the look at the annoying "gentleman" disrupting his class!
Another great video! I've watched a lot of your videos and you always talk about the inside bend.. Would a big run off cut on the side of a mountain be an exception to the rule if it lands on the outside of the bend? I found a spot has a cut the size of two football fields at the top of the mountain, funnels down to a crazy steep bedrock channel and comes basically straight down to the creek but it's on the outside of a bigger bend. There's a ton of flood trash here too but inside bend is relatively cleaned and worked. Should I keep digging the outside? 6 hours and two flakes so far but about two foot down I just hit large smooth river rock so I'm thinking I'm not even near the bedrock yet?
do you pan all of the material as you dig down? Or only the material nearing the bottom? How do you know or get an Idea of when to start panning versus just overburden when looking for the paystreak. Does the amount of material panned vary once you are on the paystreak vs when you are finding it? Thank you so much! Love all of the vids and especially the informative ones about finding gold. I have gone out almost every day for 3 months and videos like this along with trial and error have been my only teacher. Much appreciated
That's a great video....
What a great class
great video learn alot for it
are pay streaks generally concentrated enough to pick up with a metal detector?
hey dan i have a good one for ya, theres a huge boulder in the center of the creek, just before it on one side is a bedrock ledge extending into the creek. the water goes around the boulder then crashes into the bedrock and carved out a loop around the boulder out of the bank. so does this throw the gold out from under the boulder .?really stumped. -hangtown mark.
How deep should you dig? Or will it be in the top 12 inches petty much?
Will the black sand usually follow the same pay streak as the gold?
Good Stuff. Wish we had courses like this back in my day. I had Shop classes like Electronics (Became a Teachers Assistant for three years) Wood working, and Sheet metal. Wanted machine shop but never managed to get in. These kids here today don't get the opportunity to do this stuff any more. I think the have a Shop class for Condom Use ?
It was fun developing this course.
Does a damp or wet clay layer in a gravel bar still have a distinct color difference from the sands/dirt above it? Or would it tend to look similar?
This is BRILLIANT stuff... working a bar is toughhh work!!!
I HAVE A QUESTION!!! How deep do you need to dig???
GENTLEMEN....(Y I ODDA) - aka Wayne Brady. Literally wealth of knowledge, would have but with technology now, I guess has become my fav class 😂
Great job teaching Dan ! Thanks ! I heard the question/answer about how wide should the trench be and the depth comment, but that is one of my biggest questions also. How deep should I dig when sampling? Sometimes even in a small stream it seems like the gravels never end. Should you always dig down all the way down to clay,hard pack or rock?
+Brick Au It depends so much on the river. You just have to get a feel for the river which just takes time.
+Dan Hurd I am wondering the same about how far down is your sampling trench? It has always seemed to me that sampling is not meant to be a four day excursion so I have the impression when people sample, they only go down a foot or so.
+musketeer333 Each situation is different. and yes sampling can take multiple days, weeks, or years. On a quick one day test, I will usually work in the top foot. Unless something indicates that I should go deeper. Anything more than about 2 feet down and you are now talking some serious digging.
Alright Dan Thanks for your answer. That gives me a better idea
In scotland many of the rivers we do have no gold at all in the gravels so makes it hard to sample so you have to go much deeper to find the gold an then make your decision on what you find .
So essentially what I'm hearing here is that instead of just going and sampling the best way to make an informative gas is to find some way whether it be a stick sticking straight up out of the ground marking where the water levels were to give you a better idea of where that paystreak is likely to be
Regarding gravel bar material.. Do you start with the surface material for samples, or remove and discard several inches first? I'm guessing that you scrape away the top few inches? And once you've reached your sample depth, how deep do you go before moving laterally?
Do you ever teach classes like this in the US?
Hi Dan,
I have found a large area of compacted gravel after an inside bend.
I sampled this compacted gravel on the inside bend, only to find that it is only compacted at surface level. Once you dig down past the first few inches of tightly compacted gravel it becomes wet and loose.
Is it worth just sluicing the top few inches of compacted gravel, rather than digging down into the endless wet loose gravel. No sign of bedrock under it?
Thanks Jason
It would take sampling to figure that out
How deep do the pay streaks go? I've found a couple panning then set up my highbanker and dig a big hole, just to find the gold was only on the surface and wasted my time digging to China.
Macks Power there's gold in China
are there pay streaks on straight aways and how do you find them
+Simon Jones Yes they can be there, usually out more in the middle of the water. Draw a line from one corner strait to the next corner. the paystreak should be somewhere close to this line.
I wish they taught stuff like this when I was in HS
Maaaan I wish I had this teacher in school
When sampling...How deep should you dig?.....down to bedrock?
Do your understand this man ? Help becouse me
John Malkovich...with a beard
Ugh I wish dan was one of my highschool teachers
How to become a successful prospector - Step one: GROW A BEARD.
Who came here from thumbnail of bearded man !
Young Kids are so nieve
I so would tell them punks to leave , they dont care about this