Panning for Gold in the Texas Hill Country
ENCHANTED ROCK COUNTRY
By Ira KennedyDetailed maps of the Enchanted Rock area indicate, not far to the north, two creeks which feed into Sandy Creek—one is Silver Mine Creek, the other, Gold Mine Creek. Located five miles northeast of Llano is the legendary Heath Mine. Discovered in the early 1890s the mine was in production from 1896 to 1899. During the Civil War several residents of Llano county panned for gold in Sandy Creek earning less than a dollar a day for their efforts. Even Gail Borden, the founder of the Borden milk company once owned a gold mine on Sandy Creek.
According to Roselle M. Girard, "A little gold has been found in the Llano uplift area of central Texas. It occurs in quartz veinlets that cut through some of the Precambrian metamorphic rocks of Llano, Mason, northeastern Gillespie, and west-central Burnet counties." [Texas Rocks and Minerals.]
"As any placer miner knows, all of the little gold-bearing veinlets and stringers, when eroded over a broad area, can produce enough gold to form important accumulations in placer gravels. Such is the case in the area of the Llano Uplift. Gold can be panned from numerous creeks and gullies in the region. Whenever a streamcourse flows across outcrops of the Packsaddle Schist, there's a good chance for finding specks and flakes of gold. Several areas are especially noted for placer gold. The Llano River flows through the region, and gold can often be found in bars and banks of the river. In addition, gravels in tributaries of the river, such as the Little Llano River, Pecan Creek, Babyhead Creek, and San Fernando Creek are known to carry gold values.
"Sandy Creek, south of Llano is noted for its placer gold... Tributaries of Sandy Creek, such as Walnut Creek, Comanche Creek, Coal Creek, and Crabapple Creek are also noted for their placer gold. —"Gold in Central Texas," by Edgar B. Heylmund Ph.D