hi, im new to prospecting and hope to learn a few things so i can try my luck in the nearby slate belt where lots of gold was found in years past...montgomery county has a rich history of gold minning and in years past several large nuggets were found in the rivers and creeks . hundreds of old gold mines dot the land in not only montgomery county; but several surrounding counties.theres a section of the uwharrie river thats open to public prospecting and alot of color is being found im told.. north carolina land trust owns this area near low water bridge and down river to where it joins uwharrie national forest land.(several miles of river bed to prospect).once on national forest land you cant use motorized equipment.only pans and hand dredges, and no metal detectors..theres over 50,000 acres of national forest land to pan on and it is also dotted with old mines.im planning on trying my luck in the uwharrie river first and see what i can find.im pretty sure i can use my mxt detector in this area since its not on national forest land. so wish me luck and ill be reading all your post and trying to learn all i can...doug
Hey Douglas first off welcome. Sounds like you will have your hands full of area's to go. You mentioned no Metal Detectors on National Forest Land.. Dont let that get you down because you can still crack for gold.. Believe me there is alot in the cavities of those big rocks!! Check out those old mine tailing and I bet you will hit a good pocket!! Also try the area below the mines because the old timers usually did not clean up very good because they went straight for the source.
You might also want to check the rivers and creeks around Carrabus county, there's plenty of gold in the area. I spent some time at the Cotton Patch, $2 buckets from their open pit mine, but you can also strike out on your own in the creek and surrounding area that's on the property. There's some real good gold in that patch of land. And if you're around Charlotte, there were mines that ran under the 485 loop that posed problems when they built it, the road kept caving in where the old tunnels ran. The main creeks and rivers running through greater Charlotte were also rich in placer deposits. And for metal detecting, check the parks and open areas near southern downtown where the Gold Coin Mint was in operation. Bearfoot creek has some good dredging, and there's a couple of places up around Marion that you can get access to. Real pretty gold from that belt, along with fossils in the slate. Good luck!
