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Prospecting guide · 01

Getting started

What placer gold is, why it ends up in streams, and how a first trip should look.

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Where placer gold comes from

The gold you find in a stream starts its story long before it reaches the water, inside the rock of a hillside. Most of it sits in quartz veins and in zones of rock altered by hot fluids, locked between other mineral grains. Once that rock is exposed at the surface, rain, frost, heating and cooling, and plant roots slowly break it apart. The rest of the rock weathers into soil, but gold barely changes chemically; it is simply freed and left sitting in the soil and rubble.

Then gravity takes over. Creeping soil, landslides, storm runoff and small side gullies carry the freed gold down to the valley floor. From the moment it enters the stream it is a placer grain: not part of a vein any more, but a loose particle among gravel, sand and bedrock cracks. Nearly all hobby prospecting chases this loose gold, because it is the only kind you can work with a pan, a shovel and some patience.

The process runs on geological time, not human time. A flake you find in a crack today may be the product of hundreds or thousands of floods. Knowing this explains two things: why gold gathers in particular places, and why a stream does not “refill” in a year. Floods rearrange the traps, but what adds new gold to a catchment is the very slow erosion of the rock on its slopes.

The foundation of everything: weight

Gold has a density of about 19.3 grams per cubic centimetre; quartz, which makes up most stream sand, is about 2.65. For the same volume, gold is roughly seven times heavier than quartz sand. The whole logic of prospecting rests on that one difference. When moving water decides how fast a grain will settle, it responds to the grain’s size and its density, and a dense grain drops to the bottom much faster in the same current.

This is called hydraulic sorting. When water slows down it does not drop its load at random: it lets go of the heaviest and coarsest grains first, then the lighter ones. A gold flake settles alongside quartz grains much larger than itself. That is why gold does not collect alone but in the same places as other heavy minerals that behave like it, such as magnetite, hematite and garnet. The black sand left at the bottom of your pan is the visible face of that family.

Weight is not the whole story, though; shape matters too. A flat flake settles much more slowly than a round grain of the same diameter, because it presents a broad face to the water and glides like a leaf. That is why thin, flat gold can travel a long way from its source, while chunky, coarse gold stays close to it. Those thin flakes are also what beginners lose most often in the pan.

The same difference is how a pan works. When you shake and tilt a pan under water, you are repeating on a small scale what a slowing current does in the stream: you wash the light material away and the heavy material stays at the bottom. Reading a stream and working a pan are two ends of the same physics.

Without a source, a trap is empty

The most common beginner assumption is that every good-looking stream must carry gold. In fact a stream carries gold only if there is a source in its catchment: gold-bearing veins, a mineralised zone, or an older placer deposit. The catchment is all the land that drains to a given point on the stream; whatever erodes upstream passes through that point. If there is no gold-bearing rock in it, even a perfect inside bend collects nothing but sand and gravel.

So trap geometry and source are two separate questions. Geometry answers “if gold came through here, where would it stop?”; the source answers “does any gold come through here at all?”. A good plan asks the second question first. Geological maps, old mine workings, tailing piles and the historical record of an area are the strongest answers to it.

Distance from the source matters as well. Coarse gold travels a very short way and stays just below its source; fine gold can move far downstream over long periods. The further you go from the source, the finer, rounder and sparser the gold becomes. If the grains in your pans get coarser as you move up a stream, you may be closing in on the source; if they get finer and fewer, you are probably moving away from it.

Choosing a stream and a stretch

For someone working with a pan and a shovel, the most productive places are usually small and medium creeks fairly close to the source. Big rivers spread gold thinly across a wide bed and often bury it under metres of gravel, out of reach by hand. Tiny headwater trickles, on the other hand, move too little material and have weak floods. The sweet spot is often in between: a creek big enough to move gravel and small enough to walk in.

Within that creek, not every stretch is equal. Look for places where the water slows: slope breaks where a steep stretch flattens, the inside of bends, junctions where a side stream joins, and points where the valley pinches and then opens again. The detail of each is in this guide’s “Where gold collects” section; for a start, what you need to know is that a straight, uniform stretch is rarely a good first stop.

Timing is part of the choice. The best period is low water: floods have reworked the bed, the level has dropped, and the traps are exposed and safe to reach. High water hides the traps and is dangerous. Finally, factor in access: a stretch hours from any track and one next to where you park mean very different numbers of samples in the same day.

A first trip, step by step

The goal of a first trip is to learn, not to bring gold home: to see how the pan behaves, where black sand collects, and how differently separate spots in one stream can pan out. So pick a single stream, ideally one with a known history or a strong catchment. Take a pan, a small shovel, a snuffer bottle, a small vial and a notebook. You do not need more than that on day one.

When you reach the stream, do not start digging straight away. Walk upstream for a while and watch the water: where it speeds up, where it slows, where gravel has piled up, where bedrock shows. Then sample three or four different kinds of trap: the head of an inside bend, the downstream side of a boulder, an exposed bedrock crack, a pool tail. Work at least one full pan from each spot, going down to the deepest, hardest layer you can reach.

Write down where each sample came from, how deep it was, and what stayed in the pan: the amount of black sand, the number of colours if any, the size of the grains. Blank results count too; knowing a spot is empty is information. At the end of the day you should have not a jar of gold but a small map of one stream. That map decides your next trip.

  • One stream, three or four different trap types
  • Walk upstream and watch the water before you dig
  • Take every sample down to the hardest layer
  • Record spot, depth and result on the spot — blanks included
  • Practise panning at home with a few known grains

Common beginner mistakes

The most common mistake is losing fine gold in the pan. A pan shaken too hard or tipped too steeply in excitement throws the most valuable material over the lip. Getting the motion takes an afternoon; getting fast takes a season. Practising at home or with a known sample, using a few lead shot or a single flake until you keep every one, is the most useful thing you can do before you ever reach a stream.

The second mistake is digging one big hole. Gold is not spread evenly through a bed; it concentrates in narrow streaks and small pockets, with almost nothing in between. Two pans a metre apart can give completely different results. Someone who digs one hole learns one spot; someone who samples ten spots and records them learns a valley in a season. The third mistake is lingering in surface gravel: the surface holds only what the last flood dropped, while gold works its way down towards bedrock.

The fourth mistake is about expectations. For almost everyone, prospecting does not pay; it is more honest to treat it as a way to read landscapes and spend days in valleys. A few small colours in the bottom of a pan is a good day. Anyone who tells you a stream will cover the cost of your equipment is usually trying to sell you equipment.

Safety, rules and planning

A streambank is not a safe place by default. Wet, mossy rock is slippery, cold water saps strength within minutes, and a twisted ankle in a remote valley can turn into a serious problem. Avoid going alone, especially on streams you do not know. If you do go alone, tell someone which stream you will be on and when you will be back. If it is raining higher in the catchment, the water can rise quickly even under a clear sky where you stand; keep that in mind in narrow valleys.

Rules on land access, prospecting and protected areas vary from place to place. Learn the ones that apply where you are before you go; seeing a high score on a map or reading a method in a guide is not permission to dig there. Places such as national parks, nature reserves and heritage sites are usually mapped and can be checked before you leave.

Most of the planning happens before you set off. You can read at a desk which valley might have a source, where its profile breaks, and where its bends and junctions are. GOLDONGO does that terrain reading for you: it scores every stream segment in a region for trap geometry, and you pick a valley and a few spots to sample. The score does not say gold is there; only the pan can tell you that.

  • Tell someone your stream and your return time
  • Stay away from the water if it is raining upstream
  • Learn the local rules and closed areas before you go
  • Choose the valley and the spots before you leave

Quick answers

1What is placer gold?

Placer gold is gold that has been freed from its host rock by weathering and moved by water. It sits loose in gravel, sand and cracks of a stream bed rather than locked inside a vein. Almost all hobby prospecting is placer prospecting.

2Why does gold end up in streams?

Rock that carries gold breaks down over long periods. Rain and gravity carry the pieces downhill into streams, where the water sorts them by weight. Gold is far heavier than the sand around it, so it drops out first and stays where the current slows.

3How heavy is gold compared with sand?

Gold is roughly seven times denser than quartz sand. That difference is the whole basis of prospecting: any moving water that carries sand will drop gold long before it drops the sand, and any pan that washes sand away keeps the gold behind.

4Do I need to know geology to start?

No. You need to understand one idea: heavy things stop where water slows. Everything else — reading bends, bars, bedrock and junctions — is that idea applied to a real valley. Geology helps later, when you want to know why one valley carries gold and its neighbour does not.

5What does a first trip look like?

Pick one stream with a known history or a strong catchment, walk it with a pan and a small shovel, and sample three or four different trap spots. The goal of a first trip is to learn how the pan behaves and where the black sand collects, not to bring home gold.

6How long does it take to learn panning?

An afternoon to get the motion, a season to get fast at it. Most people lose fine gold in the first few pans by washing too aggressively; practise with a few lead shot or a known flake until you keep every one of them.

7Can I find gold in any stream?

No. A stream only carries gold if there is a gold source somewhere in its catchment — a vein, an old placer, a mineralised zone. Trap geometry tells you where gold would settle if it is there; it does not put gold into a valley that has none.

8What is the difference between a flake, a picker and a nugget?

Informal size words. Flakes are flat and small, the kind you find with a pan; a picker is a piece large enough to pick up with your fingers; a nugget is bigger still and rare. Most placer gold is fine flakes and dust.

9What is fine gold and why is it hard to catch?

Fine gold is flake so thin it behaves almost like sand in water — surface tension and turbulence can float it away. Catching it takes slow, careful panning and clean water; losing it is the most common beginner mistake.

10Is prospecting an expensive hobby?

It does not have to be. A pan, a small shovel, a snuffer bottle and a vial are the whole starter kit. The real cost is time and fuel driving to streams; that is why choosing the right valley before you leave matters more than any tool.

11Should I go alone?

Better not, especially on unfamiliar streams. Wet rock, cold water and remote valleys are unforgiving of a twisted ankle. If you do go alone, tell someone your stream and your return time.

12What is a catchment and why does it matter?

The catchment of a point on a stream is all the land that drains to it. Everything that erodes upstream — including any gold — passes through that point. A bigger, steeper catchment with mineralised rock in it feeds more gold to the traps below.

13Is gold more likely in big rivers or small creeks?

Small and medium creeks close to the source are usually better for a person with a pan. Big rivers spread gold thin across wide beds and bury it deep; small creeks concentrate it in reachable traps. The best is often the middle: a creek big enough to move gravel but small enough to walk.

14How far does gold travel from its source?

Coarse gold moves only a short way and stays close to the source; fine gold can travel far downstream over long periods. As a rule of thumb, gold gets finer, rounder and sparser the further you go from the source.

15What is the "pay streak"?

The narrow band on a stream bed where most of the gold has concentrated — usually the line the current takes at flood, on the inside of bends and along bedrock. Finding the pay streak is the whole game; sampling across the bed is how you find it.

16Why do old-timers say "gold is where you find it"?

Because no rule is absolute — streams change course, floods rework gravel, and a rich pocket can sit where theory says it should not. The saying is a reminder to sample rather than argue with the stream. Theory tells you where to sample first.

17What is bedrock and why do prospectors care about it?

Bedrock is the solid rock under the loose gravel of a stream bed. Gold works its way down through gravel until it hits bedrock and stops. Cracks, ledges and potholes in bedrock are the richest traps a stream has.

18What is "false bedrock"?

A hard layer — packed clay, cemented gravel or a volcanic flow — that stops gold from sinking further even though it is not true bedrock. It traps gold the same way real bedrock does, and sometimes there is more gravel and gold beneath it.

19Can I prospect a dry stream bed?

Yes, and dry beds are often easier to read because the traps are exposed. You will need to carry water to a pan or use a dry-washing method. Look for the same things: inside bends, bedrock, the downstream side of boulders.

20What time of year is best to start?

Low water. After floods have reworked the bed and the level has dropped, the traps are exposed and safe to reach. High water hides everything and is dangerous.

21How do I know if a stream has ever produced gold?

Old mine workings, tailing piles, historical records and geological maps showing mineralised rock in the catchment are the strongest signs. Where none exist, indicator minerals and a few test pans are your evidence.

22What is the single most important habit for a beginner?

Sampling, then writing down what you found and where. A prospector who tests ten spots and records them learns a valley in one season; one who digs one big hole learns one hole.

23Is prospecting worth it financially?

For almost everyone, no — treat it as a way to read landscapes and spend days in valleys. Anyone who tells you a stream will pay for your equipment is selling equipment.

24What should I read or learn first?

How water sorts sediment. Once you understand why a bar forms on the inside of a bend and why gravel sits in a pool tail, every other technique follows. This guide’s "Where gold collects" section is that lesson.

25How does GOLDONGO fit into a first trip?

It does the terrain reading before you leave: it scores every stream segment in a region for trap geometry so you can pick a valley and a few spots to sample. It does not tell you gold is there — the pan does that.

Other sections

The map does the reading for you

GOLDONGO scores entire stream networks for the trap geometry this guide describes — slope breaks, inside bends, junctions and bedrock. Pick your region and see where it stands.

Choose your region

This guide is general education, not advice for a specific place. A score, a map or a sentence here is not a licence to dig: the rules for prospecting, land access and protected areas differ from place to place — learn the ones that apply where you are before you go.