Looking for a place to dredge in colorado

[avk210]

Hi all,
I have been a member for a while but first time posting. I am trying to find a place where a buddy and myself can get an 8" dredge wet in colorado. Everything I seem to find online is 4" maximum but most online is in regards to blm land. I am sure it is different on private claims but am not sure of it. We would like an area we can work all summer and be rewarded. I want to make sure this is feasible before we drop some serious coin on equipment. We are experienced, did a long season in Alaska when we were younger and he has dredged in California and here in Colorado, but with a 4". Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

 

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[Ragnor]

If I was in the financial position To work in Colorado and I have been studying that area this week just dreaming of it, lol. I would build me a diamond dredge and work some of those streams up along the northern border. I see there is a little gold in that area also and much of it is not under claim.

 

[Shankersbend]

Do you already have the 8" dredge? Washington state allows a 6" nozzle reduced at tip of nozzle to 5'. 8" is considered 'commercial dredging'. If you have "all summer" I strongly recommend you try the Similkameen River in north central Washington. The river has glacier gold, platinum, and diamonds. Plenty of free camping, close to town.
I am renting my dredge this summer. You can see it at 'Lucky Duck Mining' on Facebook.
How deep can you work? Message me if interested.

 

[Ragnor]

Do you already have the 8" dredge? Washington state allows a 6" nozzle reduced at tip of nozzle to 5'. 8" is considered 'commercial dredging'. If you have "all summer" I strongly recommend you try the Similkameen River in north central Washington. The river has glacier gold, platinum, and diamonds. Plenty of free camping, close to town.
I am renting my dredge this summer. You can see it at 'Lucky Duck Mining' on Facebook.
How deep can you work? Message me if interested.

Just out of curiosity, is there any place for the little fish to work up there? Like feeder creeks etc?

 

[njcommercialdiver]

id be interested too, my son and i were thinking of trying washington or oregon before heading to alaska. i have 2 3"s, a 4", a 5" box and nozzle that can go on my 4" frame and am building a 6" for this year.

how hard is it to get a dredge permit for washington? are there places big enough for a 28ft toyhauler to setup camp?

 

[Shankersbend]

Mary Ann creek. The Similkameen is worked every summer by all the fish. The recoverable gold starts about 4 miles down river from Nighthawk, WA. There is some local
gold, but that gold rush did not.........pan out. Lots of glacier gold from just up river in Canada. It all comes down to how hard ya work. There is good flood gold each
year, but the "good stuff" is what's found in the cracks and other places.

 

[Shankersbend]

NJ....the permit is a copy of regs. put out by WA. state dept. of fish & wildlife - download, copy, and have near work site. Google Earth the river and look at areas from Enloe Dam to anywhere upriver on the north side of the river (it's hard to get access to the south side, but you can tow across.) Lots of areas fit for big motor homes.

For the past 3 summers I had 2 young grandsons come for the summer to dredge. Changed their lives and opened their eyes a bit more.
Any or all your dredges would work here. Since the glaciers spread the placer gold all over the valley and in the river, it's everywhere and nowhere. So, there's a spot for any size kit up to 6" nocked down to 5".

Because of the current mining b.s. in California and Ore. research those states prior to making any plans. Washington hasn't gone that way, yet.
One thing about the Similkameen is you can never tell when the flood stage will end. Usually about mid-July.