Anyone know of gold being found in Plum Creek? I have property that has a couple hundred yards of the creek that runs through it. I am VERY new to prospecting so I don't the necessary equipment to pull the gold out(if there is any there). I have panned it a little and consistently come up with black sand and little flakes of what I think are gold. There is a lot of mica on the property too so I might be seeing the mica and mistaking it for gold. Any advice? Was thinking about just classifying the material down to a high mesh count and running it through a blue bowl. As I said, I am very new to all of this.

Thanks!
Ben

i would love to help you out kind of new myself but have a sluice bluebowl and love the hunt

Welcome to the forum!

I'm sure some of the smart folks will be able to give you some good info. I'm just speculating based on what I've read, (since I've not panned) but most of the gold around here is pretty small, so if you're getting flakes, it might not be gold... but if your panning skills are good, mica shouldn't be left in the black sand, so don't throw it away because I said so! lol

Ben, Welcome!

First and foremost, make sure you have the mineral rights on your property BEFORE going any further. If you do not, none of the minerals or metals you find there are yours. You may be able to buy the mineral rights if they did not come with the property. Second, make sure you have water rights, too. Otherwise, any water you take from the creek has to go right back in. Last, you need to check and see if you have rights to the creek other than build on the property. This includes digging in or around, diverting water, storing water, and using water from the creek. If there is an HOA, make sure they allow mining (mine does not, but they don't care if I run a little dirt through a pan, sluice or Cube, so long as I don't bring in heavy equipment to work it) - because that is what you will be doing if there is gold there - even if all you are doing is panning/sluicing. What you have is private land - not public (BLM) - so there are different rules that you have to adhere to. Check the county rules/regs too. They can also limit what you can do there. Most cases, a little panning is ok, but check it out first.

Is Plum Creek in Castle Rock? If so, what you are seeing probably is gold from the conglomerate there. Mica is very light, so it moves around if you shake the water very lightly, and sparkles as it catches light. Gold does not move (much - depends on how small and how much you disturb the water), stays on the bottom of the pan, and shines when light hits it. Large pieces of mica will crumble if you press on it with your finger, gold does not change - unless amalgated with mercury, another story - when pressed. Take some pics of the flakes, if you can, and post them.

I am sure some of the more experienced and knowledgeable members will chime in and correct me where I am wrong (I think I got most of it right) on the above info. Have fun!

Lol I was wondering if he was talking about plum creek in castle rock too! If it is and you look towards the south there is a large plateau where thr new development went in. That's ny uncle ditmars rhyolite quarry ;) be very careful in castle rock. They don't allow much fun in the city limits!

I would like to point out that I do have mineral and water rights(the oldest water rights in the county actually). Our section of plum creek is just north of Sedalia. Next time I am out there I will take pics of what I am seeing. I am borrowing a blue bowl from a friend and going to see how that works this weekend. I will keep you updated!

Have you called the Douglas county dept of comissioners to make sure no one has a patent on your land? C.y.a.! Good luck otherwise!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't surrey ridge and highlands ranch north of Sadalia and plum creek South end of Castle Rock and Douglas County Fair grounds? It's been a few years since I lived in castle rock lol! Go DC Huskies!

Ground water rights and surface water rights are 2 VERY DIFFERENT animals. Please check - Mineral rights are good (you usually get ground water rights with them, but not always), and ground water rights are great (please check that you can have more than a domestic well), but check with the city of Castle Rock to see if they allow mining in city limits, or borders (again, 2 different animals), and with the county to make sure you have surface water rights. The penalties can be extreme. To divert or store water from the creek, you also have to check with the Army Corp of Engineers and the EPA. Not trying to discourage you or put you down in any way (in fact, I very much hope that all is good to go as I would like to see you profit from it), I'm just trying to point out that you need to check and double check everything to stay out of the ringer. It only takes one mistaken assumption to catch a big fine or worse. We don't want to see that happen to anybody. I would love to see you find a ton of the yellow stuff! Good luck!

Caveman = smart guy!

Got you fooled.... Read and retain a lot. That's all.

Re...ten...tion.... maybe that's my problem! LOL!

You cannot be that bad!

LOL, my rule is not just to "fake it till you make it", but be convincing about it!

No, I'm really not that bad!

The short answer is no. That is according to Ben Parker, author of <h3 class="title">Gold Panning and Placering in Colorado--How and Where</h3>