Rock picking in scotland

One of my favourite passtimes is to go out into this fabulous wilderness that surrounds me and retrieve mineral samples. This started as a lifelong interest in crystals, their healing power and their downright prettiness and has led me to some astonishing natural landscapes in the short year I have spent on it so far.

The photograph to the right is actually from a public park as you enter Kilsythe from the east. Dog (Kai) and I climbed to the top of the cliff face to look for rocks. This is the view from the top. There were some beautiful views but no visible quartz veins or other evidence of good veins.

Although this location wasn't successful the areas both north and south of where I live are littered with good finds.

Glencrieff Mine

The location to the left is Glencrieff Mine that lies just outside of Wanlockhead, the highest village in Scotland and home to the Lead Mining Museum. They call this part of Scotland "God's Treasure House" and do so with good reason.

There are three main veins that dissect Scotland and are of geological interest. The first dissects along the Southern Uplands range, the second along the Tyndrum band and the third can be found north again, this time up as far as Helmsdale. Understand that these veins run all the way across the country and are not limited to those areas.

This Calcite formed on hardened dirt

This means that all of these areas where gold is found is actually also prime crystal picking territory. The Calcite crystal sample to the right actually came from the mine pictured above. Calcite grows in absolute abundance here. You can't throw a stone without finding that stone is made of Calcite! These crystals are often growing on or around rock and are usually combined with other minerals from the area, such as Pyrite and Galena, which is a deep blue-grey when found in this locale.

Calcite Crystal from Wanlockhead, Scotland

The Calcite crystals themselves are mostly white and off-white. Some are yellow and some are stained red while some are growing from Galena leading to a beautiful silver blue hue on the surface crystal.

I learned early on that the make-up of Calcite means it will bubble when you put acid on it. This didn't stop me leaving a few pieces in vinegar to see what would happen. Within moments the vinegar turns black and murky as it starts to dissolve the dirt molecules. Unfortunately it doesn't stop there, and it will move on to destroying any aged calcite crystals that are breaking down already. Ultimately you will be left with only the strongest of the crystals and even these will be coated with a powdery dusting of dissolved calcium.

Possible Pyromorphite from Wanlockhead, Scotland

 

Interestingly, if you put quartz into acid it won't bubble. So if you ever find yourself with an unknown clear crystal formation and you pop it into vinegar the Calcite will produce small bubbles while the quartz will not! Not so common in this area but still found are Pyromorphite and reportedly Flourite, although I have yet to find any. Gold too, of course, though all I ever get in my pan is flour gold too fine to amount to anything.

My rock box, where crystals go to be cleaned

 

Traditionally, Scottish rocks consist mainly of agates. Agates are easily identifiable as multiple layers of colour all inside one stone. You do get sandstone like this too but it is very easy to tell the difference just by feel alone. An Agate found on the riverbed is likely to have the coloured layer exposed whereas one dug out of the fields is more likely to resemble a bumpy potato and be encased in some sort of stone. I haven't had the pleasure of digging up an agate yet.

Kai at Elie Bay

More recently we took a road trip out to Elie Bay in the hope of finding some of the elusive Elie Bay rubies. No joy yet, but we did come across this magnificent vein in the exposed bedrock. I believe it is quartz but I have yet to test it in acid. The theory of Elie Bay is to do with a deep red coloured seaweed dyes the rock red. I don't know if I have been searching the wrong locations or what but I haven''t given up on finding an Elie Ruby yet...

Lastly for today I think, Scotland is home to some of the most beautiful Morion quartz in the world. Me and doag are always out hunting the darkest pieces and actually sell some of it on Etsy. If you happen to be a crystal collector or someone with a tumbler who wants samples get in touch and we can work something out. In the meantime, enjoy the pictures and I will try to keep you up-to-date with my escapades... it all slows down here in the winter though... but I have a whole summer's worth of rocks to sort out meantime!

Morion Smokey Quartz from my collection

You can buy some of these lovely samples for yourself through the Stone Circle page.

An Introduction to Gold Panning in Wanlockhead, Scotland

Kai enjoying the sun

As the 2018 season draws to a close and the mining museum shuts its doors for the winter; now is a good time to do a little introduction to gold panning in Wanlockhead, and some of the do's and don't's associated with it.

As some of you know 2018 was my first season "on the water". I'm telling you this first because I don't want anyone to think it has made me rich, or that there is a single thing in my house worth stealing. For a whole season I don't have much to show yet - but I have learned enough in those few short months to know where to find it, how to find it and how to get it out of the dang'd water to boot.

All that being said if you are looking for an old pro to guide you I am not the one. If you are a noob just starting out then pay attention, there are probably a few things you can learn from my (many) mistakes.

So first off there are a few rules to follow when you are gold panning in Scotland. First and foremost you must do no damage to flora and fauna, or to natural habitats. It is OK to dig into things as long as you fill your hole back in - and I can't stress this enough... ALWAYS fill your hole back in. It's the best way to let the reserves replenish and to ensure you don't change the flow of the whole river. as for the flora and fauna thing that means rinse the moss, don't pull it out at the roots. That moss took years to get there. While we are on the subject don't go digging into the banks either, keep it around the water and respect the land.

One of many waterways near Leadhills

Another very important rule is about location. There are rivers in Scotland that harbour a protected species of shellfish called the Freshwater Mussel. I don't have a photo because I have never come across one. You cannot pan in rivers known to home this species under any circumstances. You should also avoid any areas where salmon or other freshwater fish populate. Disturbing the silt in the river bed can upset their eggs, so be thoughtful about where you pan. A good way to get around this is to only work streams, although your chances of finding gold are higher in a river. Hence why the Leadhills area is quite so popular.

When you choose to pan in Wanlockhead you eliminate the problem of permission. You can buy a license from the Lead Mining Museum for as little as £3.50 for a day and you can rent a pan for about a fiver, so one day to have a shot and see if you like it really doesn't cost you much. I should also mention that there are some good maps out there that show where the gold veins run in Scotland. This one from GeoCache goes some way to explaining why Wanlockhead is such a popular mining area.

If you choose to go to other places to pan then this is reasonable. You need to get permission from the landowner - never poach for gold. If you have the landowner's permission and someone complains to you, you are in the right and you do not need to move on. However, the crown has already claimed all of the gold in Scotland - so if you do find a £50K nugget you need to formally ask the Queen if you can keep it. I'm only half kidding.

Exposed Bedrock is a good place to hunt for gold.

So: you have got the license, you have got your gold pan, you brought a shovel... where do you start looking? It's not as simple as picking any spot and digging, rather you need to examine the river for the best places to dig into. The river will have what is called a 'gold stream' which is the path that the gold slides down while it works its way through the water. If you dig down and get no gold you might not be on a gold stream and you may have just wasted two hours digging. Trust the voice of experience and learn how to test pan before you commit to a giant, fruitless, hole. I may do an article on that in the future, for now let's keep going.

Where the stream meets the river is another good place.

So the gold stream will generally build up around bends and it can be fairly easy to work it out when you get the hang of things. Imagine you are going down the river in a boat and riding the current. Which parts of the river would you hit? Look in those places for silt banks and that's where you dig. Another important thing to learn is that an open hole usually means whoever was digging it is coming back to finish it then fill it in. You should never jump into someone else's hole. It's rude. Likewise digging three foot downstream from them is cheeky as hell. Find your own spot so nobody questions you.

So once you have picked a place you want to look for clues. Things like quartz crystals, pyrite, other interesting mineral presences in the first pan you pull out. If the signs are looking good dig deeper. If you still don't find anything dig deeper some more. If you find anything like lead shot, nails or old steel bolts you are on the right track. Wear gloves because there are a lot of ignorant people that camp on the Mennock and leave their rubbish behind. There are smashed up bottles and all sorts, so be careful (and while we're at it don't be one of them).

Like my wellies?

Pyrite will fool you. If you can swirl water in the pan and the fleck of gold moves then it's generally pyrite. If you can't move it then it might be gold. You will find gold where you find fine black sand, which usually means you need to be right down to the bedrock level. The idea of using the pan is to shake it to trap the heavier debris in the bottom, then to wash away the top layers one layer at a time until you are left with only those heavier pieces. Prepare to have a sore neck and an aching back that first few times...

In terms of equipment you will need a garden spade, a gold pan and something to get the gold out with and store it in on your fist attempt. The Lead Mining Museum sells everything you need to get started and have a whole bunch more information than I could ever put here. If you want to increase your knowledge base before you go out and try for yourself then make a customary stop there on your first visit. They do great work and you will learn a lot.

Another way to learn is to stop the car and ask panners themselves. Most of them don't mind a chat, just don't ask them to share good spots with you. They won't. It takes a long time to learn where the good spots are and their locations are closely guarded secrets. The one I used for the pictures is one I found for myself. It isn't great and there is a load of man-made sand in there that makes it difficult to pan. For all my effort once again I got very little flour gold... One of these days though, the elusive nugget will be mine!

So that's all for today. I may return to this topic in the future, I want to gauge the reaction of the community first and make sure I haven't upset anyone with my article. Gold Panners are some of the best secret keepers in the world - but I'm one of them... you won't be getting any good spots from me either... you will just have to find them for yourself!