Mining isn't what it use to be

As one hears stories of "ol' tymers" stumbling across big nuggets and huge load bearing ores, one may want to jump up and go find some themselves but it's not like it use to be. Most of the ground level big nuggets or veins have been stumbled across by determined prospectors years ago. When and still an area got established as having gold many hoards of people would rush to there creating a gold rush and they were thorough. Spending months and years searching every inch of these areas many would go home broken and broker then when they came. Some rare few may and have found massive nuggets weighing upwards of 87 pounds like the one in Banco Central museum in Brazil. So if one is heading out with a pick, pan and bucket in hopes of finding pounds of gold be prepared to work alot harder then the "ol tymers" because they scooped up all the easy stuff so mining isn't what it use to be.

Hint #7 for finding gold

Old timers would use a thing called Gossan. Gossan is intensely weathered/oxidized or decomposed rock that appear at the upper part of a mineral deposit nick named "iron cap" or "iron hat". Alot of the time the iron hat has a red stain to it compared to the rock around it. But as we proceded into modern times we learned that Gossan can have different colored hats meaning different things:

Yellows, Browns, Maroons, and Reds =  Various Iron Oxides
Black = ................................................. Manganese Oxides.
Green = ................................................. Nickel
Greens and Blues = ............................... Copper Sulfides, Oxides, Carbonates, Etc.
Bright Yellow = ...................................... Molybdenum
Waxy Green = ....................................... Native Silver, or Silver Chloride.
Oranges and Yellows = ........................... Arsenic
Pinks and Purples = ............................... Cobalt

Also more then not it is topographically positive(higher then the surrounding area) due to the erosion resistant quartz in the mineral deposit.

Prospecting for silver information.

                                                      Photo above is a copper/silver mix                                                
Silver unlike gold is not often found in nuggets but mixed with sulfur, arsenic, antimony, chlorine, argentite, chlorargyrite, galena ,lead and even gold. So because silver is mixed it has to be extracted through smelting, amalgamation or electrolysis.

Prospecting for silver can be very difficult and may not pay off but the best way to find silver is to know the geology in which to find it and make an educated guess. Look for a waxy green gossan ( weathered/eroded rock area that stands a bit higher then the surrounding area).

Nova Scotian Gold

As I have spent the last couple years prospecting around Nova Scotia I have learned the best places to look that has had the best results. I'm not saying that this is the ultimate truth, im just saying that in my experience this is what I found.

The shore that is up by the Northumberland Straight hasn't given my much luck with finding gold. The quartz deposits have been slim with very little nice crystal formation. There is nice beach glass, nice sandy beaches but I figure that because it has less drastic tides then the rest of Nova Scotia it has had less development of minerals. I haven't came across any volcanic activity or much volcanic rocks either.

Along the bay of fund for a prospector is an amazing place. There are amazing crystal formations, I've found 5 different types of geodes, many types of mineral crystal formations such as sulfur crystals and amethysts. The tides are the highest in the world make the landscape change every single time you go there,lending to great discoveries.

On the Atlantic coast and inland 20 to 30 kilometers has been my best discoveries of gold and historically has been where Nova Scotia's gold rushes have taken place. Over the last couple years old and new mines have been opening all over the side of Nova Scotia.

Recently a geologist has a prediction and discovery of rubies in Cape Breton. I believe this is part of the ruby belt that comes down from Greenland.

Hint #6 for finding gold

When prospecting for gold in rivers an streams make sure to check the moss. When a river fills up from heavy rain it loosens up tiny gold particles(flour gold). The flour gold gets caught in the moss that because of the risen water level is now submerged or partially submerged and gets trapped staying there when the water level drops. When getting the moss look for large rocks that have moss and a bit of a crevasse in front of them to collect the gold particles. When getting the moss make sure you take all the dirt and debris you can. I then take the what I have and separate it to get all the moss out before panning.