hello everyone,
i was wondering if anyone has ever found any actual gold in fountain creek around the town of fountain. it seems from some research i was doin the possibility is there but nothing has confirmed either way. and if so i was wondering if anyone knew they legal gray area sourronding sluicing there.

The water quality is so bad that there are continued warnings against human contact within that drainage.

You couldn't pay me enough to play in fountain creek. Between the discharge from the sewage plant on Vegas, the trash that gets dumped in there on a regular basis, and the homeless folks using it as a restroom/dumping ground for drug paraphernalia that's a case of Hep A waiting to happen. Have you smelled it during the summer?

yeah i know and this may sound very redneck ish but ive been playin in fountain creek since i was like 10. and as far as i know there hasnt been any raw sewage in there since the waldo floods. and those floods is honestly the reason why i wasted to go look.

and besides by that notion anyone who sluices in the arkansas after fountain creek dumps in there would be supseptable to the very same.

I'd be more worried about heavy metal contamination in the Arkansas from mine leaching.

As for gold from the floods it's possible, but unlikely. Gold has been known to be found around the Helen Hunt Falls area in small quantities, which could have possibly been washed out and down Cheyenne Creek into Fountain Creek as they do connect at I25 and Nevada. Colorado Springs sits on the wrong side of the mountain to have significant deposits of gold, we got the short end of the stick when it comes to geological luck.

yeah im starting to realize that lol.
i have seen a youtube video where a guy found some in manitue in fountain creek
i have gone on a few hikes to look for some rocky outcorpppings but only dug one test hole to look for some color and havent gone out and screened it down to look yet. i have how ever gone over some of the 1/4in material with a uv light and i picked out 4 pea sized rubies :)

professor, does uv light make the gems stand out?

yeah a simple black light will work. some do some dont, not alll minerals "glow" like that.
do some google searches on short wave and long wave uv light and certin minerals

I already did after reading your post. that is neat. I am loving this forum. I am learning more everytime I read posts. thank you for the information.

its just a shame the only answers to my questions i got werent answrs at all..... hahaha

Actually I believe your question was answered and welcome to the forums.





I'd also heed those warnings given by those who did, they know what they are talking about!
As far as the "legal grey area about sluicing"? That's your responsiblity as a prospector in the field to learn and know about for areas you wish to prospect.

Dypheron and Astrobleme, thanks for the answers given and thank you to panner13 for compliments once again on the forum. We've got a great group here!

thanks for the warm welcome.
at some point between now and the spring that i plan to become a full member of this prospecting club ( i hear good things) to go on outtings and such with my family, i have a wife and 2 step kids that would like to not only have fun but make memories and maybe even some money in the process.

i dont mean to offend anyone but the "warnings" of fountain creek dont scare me. like i said ive been playing in that creek for over 15 years. i grew up along those waters, i even remember when there were fish in there!
there is a resource by the BLM thet gives stats on rivers like flow rate, discharge, and ppm of disolved contaminates. you can even have them send you text messages if anything changes outside of your set peramaters.

Im suprised that the CDNR or the EPA havent tried to "fix" this problem! and where are all theses socalled "enviromentalists" that are so protective of "mother earth"! why havent they pushed to have it cleaned up? i truely beleive that we ALL are enviromentalists and should act as one,BUT most of these groups go WAAAAAAAAAAAAAY to far in their attempt to "fix mother earth"! so i call them wacoenviromentalists and enviromental terriorists!

sorry if mine made you think I could but would not answer your question professor. I am a super noob at this and am learning a lot from these guys here. apparently you as well. lol

Thanks, P-K! Bought a LW (365nm) UV flashlight to help find the gemstones in the clean-ups. I will get a SW (254nm) portable UV light next year. Larned sometin' new I did!

im super glad i could help 2 people learn something new! i hope to see some pics of your finds soon. with a hand held high powered one you could walk along the banks and in shallow clear water and find many interesting things. some species of fish and even crayfish also floures.

there are still many things i hope to learn and maybe some one can let me in on the secret on how to get my wife to go on a prospecting trip in gold camp or somewhere close as were are in the south end of the springs.

That's funny! Unless she has the bug, or is a very outdoorsy type (Waves at Mrs CP, Fennixsmom, Chef Mel, and the rest!) - getting her to go out to a dirty, smelly creek (or any creek, for that matter) to play in the mud with a bunch of guys will be like getting a person who doesn't like fish to go fishing.... Good Luck! There is just not that much there that will hold her interest, and it looks like a lot of work for what appears to be very little gain. A gold camp (one that has other activities that she may like), maybe - the creeks around here, not really. When I get back from a day out on the creek, my wife points at the shower! - Well, not really, but her nose sure scrunches up in a very cute way, and that may as well be the same thing!

she loves to go out doors and do stuff, just not when there is work involved hahaha. she helps a little but isnt really a match for a person who, like me, like to dig holes hahahah! most wemon hate that earthy smell hahaha

SPECIAL UPDATE!

I HAVE FOUND 1 PROLLY AROUND 150TH IN SIZE. I MOVED A FEW 5 GAL BUCKET SIZED ROCKS N DUG A HOLE. CLASSIFIED TO 1/2 AT THE CREEK BROUGH IT HOME AND CLASSIFIED IT WITH A SIVE FROM THE DOLLAR STORE. PANNED THE SIVED DIRT DOWN TO NOTHING BUT THE BLACKS. RAN IT THROUGH MY HOME MADE CLEAN UP SLUICE AND I DID FIND THAT ONE PIECE SO FAR.

Hey maybe us ladies can give you a hand! I'm sure I can talk Traddoerr into bringing his lovely wife and daughter and we can give her some female company! If D and mel can make it, it would be all the merrier!!! Oh and my sister wants to get into prospecting too!!!

you know i bet my wife and step daughters would love to meet new people especially if were all into the same thing hahaha. and a few womens perspectivs would be good for them hahaha

No. Again, according to Ben Parker, in<h3 class="title"><h3 class="title">Gold Panning and Placering in Colorado--How and Where</h3>

You may have found something from the tailings from the old Golden Cycle Mill (off US 24)and the tailings from that. But, there are no real placers on Fountain Creek.

I'd just like to say I'm really glad I found this blog before I tried.

Yeah, I'm glad I read this too!