Gold Prospecting, Treasure Hunting, Mining, Relic Hunting, and Metal Detecting in Idaho

The Gem State

GOLD

Gold was first discovered in 1852 on the banks of the Pend Oreille River. Ten years later in 1862, placer nuggets were discovered near the present-day town of Pierce (Clearwater County). Since then, over ten million troy ounces of gold have been recovered in Idaho, with the majority in the form of large placer nuggets! Obviously, there is a lot of gold in Idaho!

Placer Deposits

A placer deposit is a concentration of a natural material that has accumulated in unconsolidated sediments of a stream bed, beach, or residual deposit. Gold derived by weathering or other process from lode deposits is likely to accumulate in placer deposits because of its weight and resistance to corrosion. In addition, its characteristically sun-yellow color makes it easily and quickly recognizable even in very small quantities.

The gold pan or miner's pan is a shallow sheet-iron vessel with sloping sides and flat bottom used to wash gold-bearing gravel or other material containing heavy minerals. The process of washing material in a pan, referred to as "panning," is the simplest, most commonly used, and least expensive method for a prospector to separate gold from the silt, sand, and gravel of the stream deposits. It is a tedious, back-breaking job and only with practice does one become proficient in the operation. Thankfully, technology finally caught up with our gold fever and brought us metal detectors!

Idaho was once a leading placer-mining State. One of the chief dredging areas is in the Boise Basin, a few miles northeast of Boise, in the west-central part of the State. Other placer deposits are located along the Salmon River and on the Clearwater River and its tributaries, particularly at Elk City, Pierce, and Orofino. Extremely fine-grained (or "flour") gold occurs in sand deposits along the Snake River in southern Idaho. As always, ask for permission to hunt on any private property.

There are also several places you can pan and metal detect in public access areas. Boise, Nez Perce, and Payette Nat'l Forests are all great locations for a family outing. Contact the local Local Forest Ranger for more information including maps, regulations, and mineral rights on National Forest Lands. Other good possibilities are BLM or state controlled land. The following lands offering some great potential may be controlled by various private or government entities.

Boise County - This is the HOTSPOT! Close to 3,000,000 troy ounces of gold have been removed from the gravels of the 300 sq mi Boise Basin. Check out any and all regional watercourses (and the gravel arroyos separating them) northeast of Boise and near Idaho City.
Placer gold has also been found in the following counties: Ada, Adams, Bingham, Blaine, Bonneville, Camas, Clearwater, Custer, Elmore, Idaho, Kootenai, Letah, Lemhi, Nez Perce, Owyhee, Power, Shoshone, and Valley.

GEMS

Alluvial deposits of almandite garnet were discovered in the early 1880's near Fernwood in Benewah County, but commercial gem and industrial mining did not start until the early 1940's. The deposits are on Emerald, Carpenter, and Meadow Creeks about 6.4 km from a mica-garnet schist formation. The garnet-bearing gravels are about 1 m to about 1.2 m thick and contain 8% to 15% garnet. These deposits are the basis of the largest industrial garnet mine in the nation and also produce gem garnet. Additionally, star garnets are produced from the placers of Purdue Creek in Latah County.

Idaho's deposits also are the only ones in the world, besides India, that produces significant amounts of star garnets. These almandite garnets are translucent, purplish-red stones that show four- or six-ray stars when cabochon cut, or are transparent, deep red stones that can be faceted. The asterism is the result of silky rutile inclusions.

Gem-quality garnets also are produced commercially from an area of the Little North Fork and North Fork of the Clearwater River in Clearwater County. They range from purplish rose-red to a highly prized "special pink." Gem-quality garnets occur at a number of other locations in Idaho and are periodically mined by hobbyists or professional collectors for the gemstone market.

Another gem, jasper, was also beginning to make a mining comeback in the State, particularly with the operation of the Willow Creek jasper mine. In 1992, the untimely death of one of the partners mining the property, resulted in jasper mining reverting to hobbyist and professional collectors. Production of the various jaspers should be adequate to meet demand for the foreseeable future.

Yellow and blue colored facet-grade opal is recovered from deposits in Custer County.

Pale-yellow to colorless andesine is recovered from deposits in north-eastern Idaho. The material is found as eroded crystals more than 5 centimeters in length that can cut stones of more than 10 carats.

Opal is the second largest contributor to the total value of gem material produced in Idaho. The varieties produced include precious (white and pink), yellow, blue, pink, and common. The Spencer opal mine, the largest privately owned gem stone producer in the State, is the major producer of opal. At Spencer the precious opal occurs as one or more thin layers within common opal partially filling gas cavities within a rhyolite-obsidian flow. About 10% of the material is thick enough to cut into solid gems; the remainder is fashioned into doublets and triplets. The Spencer Mine is the source of pink common opal and pink precious opal.

RELICS, COINS, & JEWELRY

Idaho offers many incredible opportunities. If this is your interest, here's a few ideas to get you started:

Schools and College Campuses
Parks / Playgrounds / Picnic Areas
Foundations, Wells, and Cellar Holes of Old Churches or Houses
Downtown Construction Sites
Swimming Holes, Beaches, and Natural Springs
Camp Grounds, Boy Scout Camps, WPA Camps, and Mining Camps
Sports Facilities
Ghost Towns
Rodeo Arenas, Riding Stables, and Race Tracks
Old Fair and Carnival Locations
Old Town Dumpsites

LOST TREASURE

As in other areas of the US, there are several tales of lost treasure in Idaho concerning caches buried for safety. In many of these stories, people either died or forgot where they buried the stash. Contributing factors include:

1. Federal laws making possession of gold illegal in the early 1900s

2. Distrust of banks during the Great Depression.

Treasure, possibly from a Wells Fargo stage holdup, may still be at Mud Lake southwest of Idaho Falls.
The Lewis and Clark Expedition in the early 1800s took with it many Washington Season medals for distribution as peace medals to Indians in the north central and northwest sections of America. Only a few of these are accounted for today.
Virgil Brumbach's Gold Certificates are said to be lost in Soldier's Canyon east of Saint Maries, Shoshone County.

These excerpts are a sampling from American Coin Treasures and Hoards