Being from Texas and having lived about half my life there I always thought all the Gold In Texas came in two forms, Oil, or the fillings pried out of peoples teeth. Turns out there is actually one river that does produce gold down in the Hill Country but from what I understand there is nothing in the El Paso area.

Happy digging either way, I hope your finds are excellent. Good luck on connecting with a Chapter, some are more active then others.

The Llano River is the chapter you should be looking at as that is were the gold is.

I know what you mean Benjamin!

There are a couple of places I have heard of. One is an old gold mine around the Van Horn area which is on private property. The other is at the Llano river.

So far I haven't found out any information about Llano but would like to. If you hear about where to go on that river give me a shout. 

Anybody that has ever been to Texas knows that from El Paso to the Llano River is a days drive, he would probably have a shorter drive and better digging going North into New Mexico/ Southern Colorado. One thing for sure, he will have a prettier drive.

If I had to choose being in El Paso I would choose the real mountains to the North and avoid the Llano River altogether. If you read back through the history of the gold finds there it was never very productive but just productive enough to keep peoples interests. I have read some reports of people going down and dredging on expensive company outings and doing well but I really questions some of those reports.

Is there anybody in GPAA that can claim they found enough gold in the Llano to pay for their trip to dig there, gas, hotels, and meals? From what I understand nobody has come close but if you have please stand up and let us know your finds?

Not much gold in the Llano, a gram in 3 days would be considered outstanding but wouldn't even pay for the drinks, lol
Driving from Texas, I've been to Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, and North Carolina and never found enough gold to pay for the trip to dig there, gas, hotels, and meals.
But I have always found some gold and had a good time

It's been a number of years but there was some minor semi precious gems up in the franklin mountians mostly gatnet in small quanities. Its not gold but if you check around there might be a few areas that could be worth a days hunting in the area. U.T.E.P. ( university of Texas at El Paso ) gemology exibet could provide a few clues about the areas posibleties.

Thanks Mr. Crain! You have told it like it is and have dissuaded me to even try Llano. 

I also live in West Texas and will be looking for some real prospecting opportunities in New Mexico and you are right about scenic territory.

 

Marshall,



Hopefully after the winter thaw we can meet some place between the two of us and dig some dirt?

We have a wet winter coming in which will create a nice Spring dig.

some sound advice all, thanks! I have been up in the Hillsboro NM area but found nada. I did a trip to the claim in the Magdelena's Mtns and found a couple small pieces. However I am up for weekend road trips! Is there anyone local who has an X-Terra 705 that would be willing to take me out to learn how to use mine I just got for X-mas?

Yes they are, try to email them or visit their web site link at: http://www.goldprospectorsofelpaso.com/

I remember a bunch of years back, mid 90's, my wife and I were doing a lil research on the Old Military Trail and Spanish gold and we came across some articles describing one of the highways in, I believe, North Texas being "paved with gold" Somewhere that the dept. was getting their gravel turned out to have some gold in it. I'm pretty sure it was very little or we'd probably heard or found a followup to the story.

Found this: http://www.dot.state.tx.u...p/hwy/ihhwyfacts.htm

U. S. 81 and U. S. 287 in Montague County are paved with gold. When 39 miles of these roadways were paved in 1936, sand taken from a local pit was mixed with paving material. The sand contained gold but in small amounts. According a roadside historical marker, the gold in the sand was valued at 54 cents per ton, or $31,000 in these sections of highway.

In 1936 gold was $34.87.

http://www.nma.org/pdf/gold/his_gold_prices.pdf

I believe the Alamogordo chapter has a claim in Oro Grande, Not all that far from El Paso, just up 54 a bit.

Gold in the Organs, but now its a national monument.

Caballos.

Seems to be some decent gold in the Greyback group up in Hillsboro.
Small stuff in Hillsboro, but it is literally everywhere, I've swept up dirt in a road, just to see if it literally was
everywhere, and sure enough it was there, not a lot, and not big, but its there.

Can you camp on the Greyback or the Royal Flush claims?

Last year there was a couple of guys camping at the greyback for months. Nice and flat there. Supposed to be a
two week limit per the BLM, but I guess there are mining exemptions, and I don't think anybody really cares.

Benjamin, I'm the current President of the Round Rock Chapter and I can tell you there is gold in the Llano river but not in mass quantities. Our gold is mostly fine flour gold with occasional small pickers. I do believe your best bet would be Oro Grande, NM. It's closer to you. But if you ever do want to visit the Llano river there's a public/free place you can prospect. It's called the Kingsland Slab. I hold the prospecting permit for that particular part of river and allow anyone to prospect it with hand equipment such as sluices and pans and shovels. I only ask that you respect the area since it is public property and pack out what you pack in. There is also a pay to dig place in Kingsland, TX on the Llano river called Long's Fish and Dig. They charge $20/day for prospecting and you can camp, dredge, highbank, sluice, and also dig for arrowheads. Our chapter has outings on a beautiful private property right outside of the city of Llano twice a year. There is a fee but it goes to the land owner for allowing us to use his property. As Jim Shannon stated, I've been to many a place prospecting and have yet have it pay for my trip but I've had the best times trying!

Posted By Benjamin Crain on 08 Nov 2015 04:59 PM

Being from Texas and having lived about half my life there I always thought all the Gold In Texas came in two forms, Oil, or the fillings pried out of peoples teeth. Turns out there is actually one river that does produce gold down in the Hill Country but from what I understand there is nothing in the El Paso area.



Happy digging either way, I hope your finds are excellent. Good luck on connecting with a Chapter, some are more active then others.

Texas is almost entirely on Limestone Karst formation. Not sure if there is even any Glacial deposits on it. Not exactly amenable to gold hunting!  Imagine my shock one day when I googled for gold panning in Texas just for grins and got a hit. And near where I lived in the hill country to boot!

I, too, had lived over half my life in Texas and had pretty much never pursued gold prospecting as a result. My mother the rock hound and I instead looked for precious stones such as the Texas Topaz etc.

Long's fish and dig in Kingsland Texas just outside of Marble Falls is only about a 2 hour or so drive from my home base in San Marcos. It's a Geological freak of a pink granite uplift with thread gold in the pink quartz that comes with it. The Llano river is pannable providing you can find a place to pan that has not been claimed! 

I think GPAA has a claim there. Longs is a lovely bit of property tho' and you can pay to camp, fish and prospect there. Last time I went, it was $20.00 per day. Beautiful land too. Quiet and pretty with Bald Eagles down on part of the river.

Benjamin,
I am a member of the El Paso chapter and live in las cruces, our chapter splits time between Ore Grande and Hillsboro but many of us are always looking to go out and try new areas. Message me here and we can trade info for when your in the area and want to go out.

Hi

Just moved to EL Paso from San Antonio.

I'm retired and moved to be closer to the Grayback claim in NM [day trips]

Will be a couple of weeks to settle in then I'll be going

If Interested shoot me an email " howardfinchsr@hotmail.com "

Howard

I understand this thread is 7 yrs old, however, I live in central Texas and I can tell you that you wont find enough in the Llano river to pay for the trip. I'm looking at other areas myself and figure I will have to spend at least 2 weeks so i have enough time to get there, enough time to work an area, And enough time time get back. Just about Anywhere has More gold than Texas!