Gold panning/sluicing in NC!!!

Dear fellow gold/treasure enthusiasts,

I just signed up for this forum today because the fever has taken over!  I go panning/sluicing about every spare chance I get now.  The question I have is probably the same as everyone else.  Where is/are the best places to put a pan in the water in NC?  I am currently wandering around aimlessly looking for water holes.  I would greatly appreciate any help and share any info that I come up with. Thanks

Dear fellow gold/treasure enthusiasts,

I just signed up for this forum today because the fever has taken over!  I go panning/sluicing about every spare chance I get now.  The question I have is probably the same as everyone else.  Where is/are the best places to put a pan in the water in NC?  I am currently wandering around aimlessly looking for water holes.  I would greatly appreciate any help and share any info that I come up with. Thanks

Of course the old saying of "Gold Is Where You Find It" applies.
However, there is a Gold belt that runs across the state where Gold has been found in greater abundance.

This belt is known as the Carolina slate belt.
Gold was once mined in the belt, and small occurrances of molybdenite, and ore of molybdenum, have been prospected there as well.

Here is a great link to study: http://rla.unc.edu/Publications/pdf/ResRep25/Ch2.pdf



Gold has also been found in these NC. counties., Alamance    Avery    Burke    Cabarrus    Caldwell    Catawba    Cherokee    Clay    Cleveland     Davidson    Davie    Franklin    Gaston    Guilford    Henderson    Jackson    Lincoln    Macon     McDowell    Mecklenburg    Montgomery    Moore    Nash    Orange    Person    Polk    Randolph     Rowan    Rutherford    Stanley    Swain    Transylvania    Union    Watauga.

If I knew exactly where the biggest nuggets could easily be found, I would be there right now.
 
Have fun, I know what the fever does to a man, I've had it for years


GG~

I have heard Vein mountain has some color, I have never been there though. I am in upstate South Carolina (not far from NC) and there are not many public places around here to go at all so I feel your pain.   

McCormick SC had one hell of a gold mine there at one time.  It was near Thurmond Lake.  But those people know what is around there.  I have been in parts of GA, SC, and even NC once but it was all on private land.   At one time in my life me and the family were pretty hot and heavy into gold prospecting.  We had two trommels, several dredges, sluices, pans, micro sluices, gold wheels, you name it we had either made it, or had bought it.  We had so many dredges at one time, we were loaning them out to people and we would take a 10 percent cut if they ran our equipment.  But for the most part that equip is still sitting around at dads house in GA. 

GF,  not many know this but the quarries in your area do allow people to buy the slurry from there slurry ponds which contain a fair amount of flour gold when panned. The gold is concentrated in the fines after processing the rock.

 Astrobouncer,

  Just so you know, in the state of South Carolina all rivers and stream that are considered "navigable" (if you can float a canoe down them they are considered navigable)belong to the state and as long as you access them through a public easement (at a public bridge, public landing, etc.)you can prospect that river or stream, you can go upstream or downstream as far as you like, but DO NOT exit the river or stream unless it is public property or you may very well be trespassing on private property, you have to remain in the stream to be on public property, if you can get permission to exit the stream on private property then you will be fine.

 You should have gold all around you where you are located, you are right in the "slate belt" and gold is there, get out there and find some!!

 The above does not apply for North Carolina, most rivers and streams in North Carolina are own by whomever owns the riverbanks.

   Skip

AU seeker, could there also be claims on certain stretches even if the property is owned by the state?

GG~

AU seeker, could there also be claims on certain stretches even if the property is owned by the state?

GG~

  GoodyGuy,

  I not quite sure as to what you are asking, there are no "claims" east of the Mississippi, all places to prospect are either public land or private land.

  If you could clarify your question I will try to answer, and are you referring to South Carolina or North Carolina.


   Skip

AU seeker, could there also be claims on certain stretches even if the property is owned by the state?

GG~

  GoodyGuy,

  I not quite sure as to what you are asking, there are no "claims" east of the Mississippi, all places to prospect are either public land or private land.

  If you could clarify your question I will try to answer, and are you referring to South Carolina or North Carolina.


   Skip

Well, you just answered my question about claims. I wasn't sure if there could be mineral claims or not on state property in North or South Carolina.

Thanks,
GG~

Thanks for the heads up on that. Good to know.

goldfever 1978 i have been to lucky strike mine in marion n.c. and a few others nearby, these are places you can look for gold a few different ways, rent there equiptment or bring your own for different fees. dont know of any public areas. good luck.

goldfever 1978 i have been to lucky strike mine in marion n.c. and a few others nearby, these are places you can look for gold a few different ways, rent there equiptment or bring your own for different fees. dont know of any public areas. good luck.

MarineDad,

I have enjoyed mining at those places as well: http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,256584.0.html

goodguy, are you from the area? just asking because i just bought 5 acres in transylvania co. n.c. havent had time to see if creek on lot has any gold in it.

goodguy, are you from the area? just asking because i just bought 5 acres in transylvania co. n.c. havent had time to see if creek on lot has any gold in it.

I'm from Indiana, not much Gold here, just some small and fine glacial drift placer in central Indiana creeks and streams.
That's why I go to Georgia and North Carolina.

There's a good chance that there is gold in your creek, Transylvania Co. is known for it.
Only one way to find out though, don't give up till you hit bedrock.
How deep is your creek? Got a dredge?

Let us know how it turns out
Good luck and have fun.

GG~

only sluice, no dredge, creek is only few inches deep, good flow2-4 ft. wide. want to build a house on lot but unfortunately my current homes value is 40/% less than 2 years ago but building costs have not gone down. things move a lot slower down there. gold prospector magazine jan-feb 10 has story about some good gold being found in indiana. maybe ill see you down there in n.c. some time. do you have a detector also gg?

only sluice, no dredge, creek is only few inches deep, good flow2-4 ft. wide. want to build a house on lot but unfortunately my current homes value is 40/% less than 2 years ago but building costs have not gone down. things move a lot slower down there. gold prospector magazine jan-feb 10 has story about some good gold being found in indiana. maybe ill see you down there in n.c. some time. do you have a detector also gg?

I'll have to check out that issue thanks, of course any gold is good gold to me!
I have a Whites Gold Master Two, also known as GMT, one of the best gold detectors ever made.
Will look you up next trip down, I'll pm you details before my next trip.

GG~

Goodguy,
I actually stopped going down to N.C. because I've been dredging up better gold in Indiana! 

Goodguy,
I actually stopped going down to N.C. because I've been dredging up better gold in Indiana! 

   Tell me more............


GG~

Try Uwharrie National Forest

I'm nine miles south of Wadesbourough NC. and I'v recovered around 30 grams of flour gold from my creek, and thats just panning. I;ll likely get a sluice soon off of ebay or a site online and start sluicing also. Every pan has flour, but with a pan it takes about 4-5 hours to get a cubic inch of it, or a bit bigger than a sugar cube size amount. With a sluice I think I could multiply that by ten. But the point is...... theres gold down here, not nuggets, yet, but plenty of flour.