How To Find Opals - FINDING GOLD VII

How to find opals - Gold & Gem locations: http://www.treasuresites.com/treasurebooks.htm Opals occur most commonly around basalt deposits, though they can be a mineralized gel replacement for wood (petrified wood is one process, opal is another). To look for opal: go to the basalt (lava) areas (use a USGS mineral map), then look for depressions (old springs) or flat areas on hillsides where you see the ground pictured in the film. Opals have a specific gravity lighter than sand so pieces (float opal) will come to the surface. Start looking for pieces (the tops will be sun-baked white). If you are finding obsidian (volcanic glass) walk up to a lower temp. mineralization and look for opal. Opal can be black opal, white opal, red (fire) opal, clear opal, or solid opal, and precious opal can be found right along with common opal. Precious opal can (in some cases) be found with ultraviolet light. Some opal can be up to 20% water, and be subject to cracking and crazing if not dried over a period of years. What I personally like about the hillside prospecting method shown is the opal has been thoroughly dried out over the eons and is ready to cut into jewelry from day one. How much opal was recovered in this film? Pounds. Get out there and find yourself some opals -- and defend the 1872 mining law -- it is the only piece of paper that gives the average citizen the right to be on public property, whether prospecting or riding a bicycle. Beware of those trying to change or take it away in the name of "protecting" the land -- they are only taking away your freedoms. Gold and platinum are 15-19 times heavier than other streambed materials and concentrate in low pressure areas and cracks that run across rivers and streams. You look for a crack on the bank, and follow it out until you meet the "gold line" and there you suck it out with your dredge. Gold will be on the outside edge of a river gravel bar, at the head of the bar (large gold but usually beneath big boulders), and at the tail end of a bar (vast concentrations due to river bars forming in the shape of an airfoil and sucking fine gold to the tail end) but be small to microscopic at the tail end. Gold will travel down a river or stream in a line, usually off center of the high pressure water. Gold will settle behind a boulder. A good place to fish, can also be an excellent place to find gold. "Black sand" is iron ore that can be readilly identified in gravel bars and is a ready indicator that gold is probably present. The most effective and economical way for the average person to find paying concentrations of gold in a river or stream is with a simple ($80) sluice that you shovel into and the riffles retain gold, platinum, gems and anything heavy for you. Gold can be found up high on the old river channels and recovered with metal detectors, a gold wheel, a highbanker, or simply by identifying the material, shoveling it in your truck and working it out later in a wheel, or your simple stream sluice. The states which have gold in vast quantities are: Maine, Vermont, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona, California, Idaho, Washington, Montana, and Oregon. The rest have gold as well, some in very good concentrations. All have gems of some kind that a sluice will seperate and hold. Good luck finding the gold of your dreams! Find gold by viewing the other films in this series for all the methods (from simple hand tools to metal detectors) plus even more valuable gems. Fire opal, fire opal, fire opal, fire opal, fire opal, fire opal, fire opal traced to the source vein.

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[creten69]

I saw ur metal detector vid thanks,I cant wait to get on the hunt.I love getting out in the rocks.Now i've been seeing HUGE nuggets getting pulled out in australia vids,have you been ther yet? Do you know the story on that? I mean, I wonder if americans can go there with a detector on a hunt about? The $ doesnt matter to much,it looks like the fisher gold bug 2 is for me.Thanks Conrad

[flagold]

I have not been, but many others have and made some great videos. IMO, you don't go for the gold (there's plenty of that here) you go for the trip and experience. The soil conditions in Australia are extreme, requiring a different kind of metal detector in their goldfields than VLF - you'll need a pulse (Minelab, Infinium, Whites, etc.) targeted for the job at hand. Luckily, the U.S. has very little of their kind of extreme ground.

[unclearless]

Matt, I live in the four-corners area in New Mexico. Any opals around here? I see many rocks here that look similar. Or any other prescious stones around here youve heard of? By the way, you are not only kind, but an inspiration, and hero of sorts to folk like me. ~Kevin~

[flagold]

There sure could be, anytime there is volcanic activity and you see basalt, there could well be opal. One of the latter movies we (my wife and I) show finding sunstones in New Mexico (and those came out of volcanic rock). The gemstone book I show was a good help and accurate on locations. Good luck out there!

[GetMeThere1]

FanTAStic video (all your videos are).

Do these opals polish up to look like Australian ones?

[flagold]

I have a picture of one I just cut (youtube won't post the direct link) at: golddredger(dot)com look for the forum link, and scroll down to Matt's Treasure . . . and it is in the Opals II discussion. The opals range the full gamut from fire to individual stones with precious streaks through them, but in the main, gem quality fire opal, with the clear yellow (usually found only at the tips of the red opal nodules).

Thanks for the compliment, much appreciated.

[Lesouder2222Music]

You're great!!!!!

[dontmesswithnature]

What is the best gold you would reccomend that is under 300 dollars?

[Donatillo1961]

I just love your work ! thanks for sharing that valuable information on how to find Opals !

[alienwrksh0p]

how much is opal worth?

[77GSlinger]

You Rule!

[newfish000]

minersville is a good spot or beaver utah

[creten69]

great vid,i love finding,i know a field like that strewn with meteorites,in nevada.I didnt know what it was at the time and just took one.I had a real frustrating time with gold and digging looking for just specks,i thought a metal detector might help this time.I can hardly wait to go right where your at,and pick a few opals.yee haw!

[hondadrift]

Utah has excellent gold actually. It is one if the highest ranking states in gold recovered, largely in part to Kenecott. If your going to try your hand at sluice boxing i recommend Mineral Basin in AF canyon. Other sites are the henry mountains, currant creek, the green river, and almost any tributary of the colorado. However, the bigger rivers contain very very fine gold and its very difficult to recover. While difficult it still contains $75-100 per yard of material in concentrate locations.