GRAFTON, NEW HAMPSHIRE

Placer gold can be found in The Ammonoosuc, The Wild Anunonoosuc, Baker, Beebe, Gale, Mad, Salmon, West Branch and Upper Mad Rivers. It can also be found on Notch Brook, Salmon Hole Brook and Tunnel Brook.

Bath

Bath area has numerous old base metal mines which produced a by product of gold.

Lisbon

The Lisbon area mines produced copper, lead, silver and a by product of gold.

Littleton

The Littleton area base metal mines produced a by product of gold. There is a mineralized belt containing many mines. This belt extends form southwest along Route 10 for 12-15 miles. This belt includes Lyman, Lisbon and Bath and produced gold as by product.

Lyman

The Lyman area copper, lead, silver mines produced a by product of gold. The Dodge Mine had a total production of around 2,000 ounces of gold, before the veins pinched out into barren slate at about 100 foot depth.

Tinkervale

Northwest of Tinkervale, on Gardner's Mountain, there are some area base metal mines that produced a by product of gold.

Wild Ammonoosuc River

Reported by: Scott Shelley

The Wild Ammonoosuc River is located in Landaff, New Hampshire just off of Route 302. There is good access to the water from several pull offs along the river. Please ask permission from the property owners to pan or put in a dredge, trespassers are not taken kindly to. The lower part of the river, below what is known as Big Boulder, has a lot of fine flower gold, some good sized flakes and an occasional nugget. The largest nugget taken by a recreational prospector was about a half ounce. The river gets a lot of pressure in the summer months from prospectors from all over New England, but seems to always turn up enough gold to keep people coming back. Gravel bars down stream near the main branch of the Ammonoosuc River are a lot of fun to work for the small stuff and nests of good sized rocks sometimes produce nice surprises. The general area is in an ancient volcanic mountain string and the decomposing hillsides left enough gold in the streams and floodplains that a small gold rush happened here when miners returned from California. The miners noticed the geologic similarities and found quite a bit of gold for a short time. A few small hardrock mines sprang up but didn't find enough gold to be profitable. These old mines are still visible but too dangerous to enter. New Hampshire has permit process for dredgers but no permit is required for panning.

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