What is placer gold?
From www.goldplacer.com, the word placer
(pronounced - plas-er, not pley-ser)is a Spanish derived word which
refers to an alluvial or eluvial deposit of gravel containing
particles of valuable minerals such as gold, silver or platinum. As
such, placer gold is gold that has weathered from the host rock
where it was formed and been "placed" either on hillside (eluvial
placer), stream bed or alluvial fan by the action of water,
glaciers or other geological forces. Subjected to millions of years
of weathering, upheaval and the action of water, lode gold tends to
expose itself and erode from it's source to naturally distribute
itself among the other rocks and earth subjected to the same forces
and form a secondary or residual deposit called a gold placer. As
time moves, so does the gold. It can be found embedded in the
placer gravels and alluvial fans as specimen gold still attached to
the host stone to some degree, gold nuggets, small flakes, fine
gold and even down to micron gold smaller than can be seen with the
naked eye.
Gold is heavy. Roughly, it is 19 times heavier than water. As
such, gold particles of any substantive size do not tend to move
far from the source. Being subject to the forces of gravity, placer
gold tends to move downward, sinking as deep as it possibly can and
following the path of least resistance. As the gold comes into
contact with rocks and water, it breaks up slowly over time,
becoming finer and finer as it moves away from the auriferous vein
or lode from which it came, eventually depositing on a beach or
even in the ocean at the foot of a river. Extremely small particles
of fine gold can travel hundreds of miles from their primary source
while the larger nuggets, specimen gold and crystalized gold remain
closer to the source, trapped by their own weight and the features
of the surrounding bedrock or gradient property of the stream
beds.
Much of the gold that existed in ancient times was derived from
placer gold. Man, since ancient times, has been mining placer gold
because of the ease with which it can be recovered. Although most
of the placer gold from ancient times and even from later gold
rushes has been melted down for jewelry or bullion, more recently
it has found it's place as a precious gemstone and treated as
something beautiful in it's own right. Placer gold nuggets are
often used to fashion gold nugget jewelry or placed on display in
museums or in private collections. Indeed, placer gold in it's
untouched form is often worth more than the weight of the gold
itself.
To log your find answer the following:
1. Who first discovered gold at this location?
2. Who later prospected the area?
3. The sign refers to the creek by 2 different names, what are they
and where do they flow?
4. What year was the first discovery of gold in this
location?
and
5. OPTIONAL: Take and post a photo of you or your team at or near
the location.
**Source of our data is www.goldplacer.com, a special thanks to
them for sharing this info for our earthcache.