A Map of Natural Metal Traps
Gold and other heavy metals settle where the current slows. We score entire stream networks for that geometry, region by region.
- scored segments to date
- streams analysed to date
Slope breaks
Where a steep reach flattens, the current loses the energy that carried heavy grains. Gold drops before anything else.
Inside bends
Water runs fastest on the outside of a bend and slowest on the inside. The bar on the inside is where the heavy fraction settles.
Junctions
Where a tributary joins, the flow slows and spreads. The downstream side of the confluence keeps what both streams carried.
Bedrock constrictions
Where the valley narrows to rock, the bed is scoured to bedrock and every crack works as a riffle.
A Map of Natural Metal Traps
- scored segments to datesegments scored
- streams analysed to datestreams analysed
Slope
Inside bend
Junction
Bedrock
Gold and other heavy metals settle where the current slows. We score entire stream networks for that geometry, region by region.
How the app works
The same tools in every region: read the terrain, open the catchment, check the score, mark what you find.
Carry it in your pocket
The same map, the same target list. A downloaded area opens in the valley even without a signal.
Scan with your phonePoint the camera at it; it takes you to the version for your device.For now, open it in the browser and add it to your home screen; it runs full screen.
Why United Kingdom
- Known placer burns with documented gold, from Sutherland to the Southern Uplands.
- A dense hobby community that already reads maps before it travels.
- Metre-scale LiDAR over much of the country: trap geometry at a resolution we get almost nowhere else.
Where we are
Beta. The whole country is scored: 1.14 million stream segments from 30 m elevation data. Trust it in the uplands — Scotland, Wales, the Pennines — where the gold is; the drained lowlands (Fens, Levels) are the least reliable part. Metre-scale LiDAR is the planned upgrade. Free while in beta.
GOLDONGO is a terrain-screening tool. A score is not a promise of gold, and it is not a licence: check land status and follow local rules before you dig.