What are the signs of shallow gold bearing ground?

G'day fellow prospectors.

Shallow gold bearing ground or detectable ground (ground that holds gold within detector reach) as I prefer to call it, is ground that not only shows signs of ironstone/quartz/slate on or protruding from the surface, but lies within the 1 to 3 foot depth mark.
When first entering any gold bearing area/locality, pay attention to your surrounds which tend to point out nearby areas or sections of shallow ground, by way of trees/shrub growth, protruding host rock, or the presence of near by old timers holes or flats, that have been wrought/surfaced by the old timers.
A dead giveaway of rich gold bearing ground that has been wrought or surfaced by the old timers, is an area or section of ground in amongst forest/shrub that has been taken away for processing, leaving old tree stumps or the roots of old tree stumps higher up from the current ground level. Never underestimate areas such as these, for the old boys might have bottomed to the clay pan taking out the richest parts or sections of gold, but rest assured that some pocket of clay containing gold could well be found further down, sitting in amongst crevices of host rock, or on the bedrock itself.
The girth or circumference of say a 6 inch in diameter tree trunk, as compared to a 2/3 foot tree trunk growth, needs little soil or top soil to grow in, as compared to the much larger trees that have their stumps go down 3 to 4 feet into the earth, depicting deep surrounding surface/topsoil cover.
Undulating rocky hill sides are preferred over the much steeper hill sides (which tend to accumulate greater top soil cover in the centres of their valleys or gullies bellow).
When working any undulating rocky hill side (preferably slope angles from 5 to 30 degrees, for any steeper would rarely hold gold unless its still connected to part of the host rock or gold bearing reef line) pay attention to any sections or nearby drop offs, onto any rocky flats containing the growth of shrubs, for it is here that gold can be trapped within the underlying pockets of dirt/clay.
When entering an area or section of old timers holes, pay attention to the depth of holes. If the holes are measured at say 3 feet deep today, you can bet they were wrought to the 4/5 foot mark, way out of reach of current gold metal detecting technology, leaving one with only the tossed out mulloch of the holes to work.  Old timers holes that are say about a foot+ deep today, would have been worked to twice that depth when first opened/bottomed & if found spaced close together & numerous in number, are well worth detecting the ground between/around them.

Cheers Kon.

Thanks Kon Good write up info
wombat

Many thanks for that info Kon..some good stuff to ponder on my next trip out

Nicely put Kon
Also in the triangle the trees tell you whats under your feet.When a tree grows it drags the gravels from the "Bottom "to the surface.You will notice this ring around the base of the trees.In ground thats too deep for detecting there is no ring.You will no longer waste time on ground that is too deep and this improves your chances immeasurably. When you get used to looking at the base of trees you get a picture of whats below you
Cheers Dig