I have found my first little nugget! I'll have to test it to see what it's made of. But, it was in highly acidic iron-rich sand in contact with acidic marshy stream water so corrosive to metal that even brass pennies are eaten away within a few years! (brass pennies in the flowing streams are reduced to paper-thin wafers within 3 years and vanish after that!) I know for a fact that aluminum is swiftly destroyed, and lead develops a thick yellow-gray crust. Silver, on the other hand, stays very shiny in this environment (I've found some silver dimes metal detecting, and they were so bright it was like they'd just fallen yesterday.) So this could be a placer silver or platinum nugget from the glaciers long ago!
It was, as expected, in the large black sand deposit at the bottom of the hill. I had to sift the black sand to find it, since that black sand has a large amount of hematite and other heavy dark crystalline material.
Now, this nugget was just barely small enough to fit through the screen of my fine classifier... which means there could be larger ones as I go deeper into the black sand layer! I'll need to check the mid-size gravel very carefully. I've only just begun to prospect the location!
It was, as expected, in the large black sand deposit at the bottom of the hill. I had to sift the black sand to find it, since that black sand has a large amount of hematite and other heavy dark crystalline material.
Now, this nugget was just barely small enough to fit through the screen of my fine classifier... which means there could be larger ones as I go deeper into the black sand layer! I'll need to check the mid-size gravel very carefully. I've only just begun to prospect the location!