Where to find gold vancouver island

Hardware and sporting goods stores sometimes sell specially made gold pans, sieves, and other equipment. The process is simple. Find a shallow flowing spot on a creek. Fill the pan three-quarters with gravel then shake from side to side, then around in circles to wash out the lighter material. But just like in other places gold was discovered, a number of developmental projects were also initiated in Leechtown. For instance, by November in that same year the gold was discovered, there were 6 general stores and 3 hotels.

But not much of the development took place in this town because the mining activities were short-lived. Within about 3 years of the first discovery, Leechtown was basically a ghost town.

There is minimal detailed information known about the previous mining activities on Vancouver Island. A big reason for this is because much of the gold mining that took place here was very small scale. Just individual miners digging for gold in the creeks and rivers. Vancouver Island is still a good place for prospectors to conduct small gold mining operations with basic hand tools and placer mining equipment.

Paul Larouche has been hunting for treasures since he was young, but now the Sooke man has hit the mother lode. With more than , subscribers on YouTube, the year-old spends his time creating content around finding gold, gems and odd treasures from his travels under the name PioneerPauly. At the age of 25, he was living a different life. He was working as a security worker after leaving the film and TV production industry.

As someone who struggles with anxiety and depression, he felt like he was hitting a wall. That is until his uncle, who lives in Langford, tried to get him outside and unearthed a passion for gold panning. It was surreal when I found my first speck of gold. An old copper mine and an unmined gold deposit sit on the northeast side of Mount Washington near the top of the mountain, which is mainly composed of highly faulted Karmutsen Formation basalts intruded by a Tertiary stock.

On the top of the mountain rare shell fossils can be found. The copper and gold deposits are rich in arsenic minerals such as realgar. Vuggy crystalline and chalcedonic quartz often forms with the mineralization. Placer gold can be found in Oyster River draining the northern part of the mountain. Relatively large nuggets have accumulated in the river further downstream. Just west of Campbell River, the old Quinsam or Argonaut iron mine is a large open pit offering an abundant amount of andradite garnet crystals in the orebodies.