Geology of Vermont

"You're probably familiar with the famous California Gold Rush, but how many know that one occurred in Vermont? Plymouth (VT) farmers discovered placer gold in Broad Brook and for a time gave up their farming to pan for gold. Canny Yankees that they were, they soon calculated that they weren't really earning more money than they had from farming, and the Vermont Gold Rush was over. Gold can still be panned from Broad Brook today. In fact, many other Vermont streams offer the energetic collector a chance to find some placer gold as a return for a hard day's work. The locations include: Rock River in Newfane and Dover; Williams River in Ludlow; Ottauquechee River in Bridgewater; White River in Stockbridge and Rochester; Third Branch of the White River in Braintree; Mad River in Warren, Waitsfield and Moretown; Shady Rill Brook in Wrightsville; Minister Brook in Worcester; Little River in Stowe and Waterbury; Gold Brook in Stowe; Lamoille River in Johnson; Gihon River in Eden; and the Missisquoi River in Lowell and Troy".

To formally identify a mineral that you believe is gold, the material will need to be tested or assayed. A jeweler in your area may have the expertise to do this or may be able to give you the name of someone they have dealt with. The Vermont Geological Survey can provide names of testing laboratories.
Characteristics of the mineral gold include:

• yellow color (shades are paler with increasing silver content)

• bright metallic luster

• normally occurs as small shapeless grains or flakes

• soft (2.5-3 Mohs hardness scale)

• very heavy; specific gravity 15-19.3; 19.3 when pure

• ductile and malleable

• opaque

• yellow streak on unglazed porcelain


Gold is distinguished from yellow sulphide, such as pyrite, primarily by its higher specific gravity. Pyrite (FeS2) , often occurs as cubes, and is more brittle, harder, and more brassy than gold.

December 1998 Permits Required to Prospect for Gold:
To HAND PAN on private land, landowner permission is required. Hand panning is allowed on state land. To HAND PAN on State or Federal land, no permit is required. There is no closed season for hand panning.


Recreational mineral prospectors:

(A) shall not operate suction dredges in any watercourse;

(B) may operate sluice boxes in any watercourse, provided:

(i) a request for approval to conduct mineral prospecting shall be filed with and approved by the secretary; and

(ii) mineral prospecting shall not be conducted on private land without landowner permission, or on state land without permission from the secretary.

If you have questions, please contact the District Environmental Office (see below). For season dates (currently June 1- October 1) and permits, contact the Regional Engineer at the appropriate Vermont District Environmental Office (see below). For approvals of the operation of mineral prospecting equipment issued under 10 V.S.A. chapter 41:(A) annual approval for a resident: $ 30.00 (B) annual approval for a nonresident: $100.00.

Permit applications will be reviewed pursuant to the jurisdiction of 10 V.S.A., Chapter 41, Subchapter 2, Stream Alteration, or Section 1272 of 10 V.S.A., Chapter 47, Subchapter 1, Water Pollution Control.

Questions regarding projects subject to this jurisdiction should be addressed to the regional engineer at the appropriate District Environmental Office.

Northern District : Barry Cahoon, District Environmental Office, 184 Portland St., St. Johnsbury, VT 05819. Phone (802) 748-8787

Southern District: Fred Nicholson, District Environmental Office, 450 Asa Bloomer State Office Bldg., Rutland, VT 05701. Phone (802) 786-5906

To PROSPECT (other than hand panning) on Green Mountain National Forest Land, a permit is required. Contact: Green Mountain National Forest, 231 N. Main St., Rutland, Vermont 05701. Telephone: 802-747-6700

To MINE on Federal Land, a lease is required. Contact: Eastern States Office, Bureau of Land Management, US Dept. Of the Interior, 7450 Boston Blvd., Springfield, VA 22153. Telephone 703-440-1511

ALL FEDERAL WILDERNESS AREAS are withdrawn from ALL forms of mining.