Glacial Gold In The Midwest 

Silver and lead minerals often are in gold ore (More thumbnails below)

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In the beginning the geology of Indiana wasn't supposed to be right for gold occurrence. To explain the discovery of gold in a few of our counties, the theory of glacial deposits was birthed and accepted as fact. When sheets of ice from the ice age melted they left behind deposits of minerals. As prospectors panned for gold, diamonds began to appear in some gold pans. One thing all the places where gold was discovered had in common was shallow bedrock. Without bedrock prospecting for gold may be very unproductive. What about the counties to the north? Shouldn't these be worth checking out? Yes, but there is no bedrock or steep hills for gold to be concentrated in streambeds. It seems that the largest portion of glacial mineral deposits, were deposited throughout the entire northeast section of Indiana. Hardrock gold specimens can be found in northeast Indiana. Check any gold ore to see if Indians have carved it. Something that attracted the attention of Native Americans was silver in any form. Gold ore often contains silver and lead minerals, often both are found together. Below is a specimen of glacial ore found in Elkhart county, IN.

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