Gold from the caliche

[Chris Gholson 347]

I forgot to post up this find I made last month. I was working a new spot that actually didn’t look very promising at all. None of the classical indicators were there, no red dirt, no quartz, no nothing really, other than plain gray dirt. However down below this hillside I could see where the old-timers had dug around and stacked a few rocks. I figured they had gotten a sniff of gold, so I decided to swing around for a while.

I hit a few boot tacks on the surface, then I heard a low, mellow sound. I dug away about eight inches of dirt until I hit a hard caliche layer. The signal stayed in the hole, so I kept chipping away. It was slow going but eventually I found the source of the noise. It was a solid hunk of caliche that had no obvious signs of gold. I set it down on the ground and smacked it with a rock. The lump cracked open and revealed a beautiful yellow color inside! A few more hits with the rock and finally my prize was free. It ended up being a lovely nugget weighing 2.5 grams. This find was just a good reminder that even if you can’t see visible gold it doesn’t mean it’s not there. If something produces a solid ‘beep’ on the detector, it’s probably worth hanging onto for a closer look later…I was swinging the Minelab GPX 5000 fitted with the Nugget Finder 15” Evolution Coil. Happy hunting everyone!

[beatup 53]

great little find Chris

[Adam 7]

Really cool Chris !  Thats probably some really old gold 

[Tom H 24]

Nice score Chris Good on you for persevering to get your golden surprise.
Tom H.

 

 

 

[nugget108 22]

Nice nuggie Chris.

[dick ward 15]

Way to go Chris.  Digging through that caliche is a real chore.   

[fredmason 1]

very nice!

fred