Excited for this first notable evidence, I returned to that riverbed, looking for another paystreak and obviously more jade.

My intention was to end this discussion with waypoints and routes, then I found USGS maps of the Plainfield Quadrangle.

The type of mine dump that is best for metal detecting are the ones that consist of mixed sizes of rock and are located near some sort of excavation, commonly a shaft or adit. Sometimes the piles located along a trench dug by the miners can be productive as well.

If the material drops down out of the hopper too fast, it can overwhelm the riffles and you can blow the gold right out. If it runs too slowly, the riffles can clog up and the process is too slow.