Finally found it!

[Sample Pan Dan]

Well as most of you know, I am still just a greenhorn as far as prospecting goes. I have been covering lots of ground and taking lots o sample for the last 4 months in my little piece of paradise. Well today I decided to hike in along the creek and test pan some areas I had never seen. I dug and panned for a couple hours this morning, moving upstream every few pan fulls. All o a sudden I realize I am walking along on a gravel bar from when these couple small creeks were a raging force. Then I find a nice big hole someone left behind and the remains of a wooden framed sluice box, maybe 12"x40". So I decided to dig. I had no buckets with me, just a couple pans, a 1/4 classifier and a short handled #2 shovel. So I dug 2 pans at a time and panned them out 30 feet away. I probably panned 30 big full pans from this hole. Yes it's only one little piece, but it a nice little piece, and I found it by covering ground, reading maps, and studying the history of the area. I'll be back, hopeful next weekend with a couple buckets. Time to buy that sluice box I've been looking at. :-)

 

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[Aurabbit79er]

I would now dig until I found a big cluster of larger river rocks that piled up together, by digging perpendicular to the water flow through the zone you are in.
You should find the path the gold took during the last major flood. The deeper you dig the bigger the river rock should get. Big rock traps gold.
I found my latest 2 grams in dry wash like this. See the piled up big rocks?
Good gold in that dirt.

 

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[Fullpan]

AU - I also see the gad bar, good exercise, huh?

 

[Meurnik]

Awesome, i just can't wait to have my eureka moment! So jealous right now!

 

[Sample Pan Dan]

Awesome, i just can't wait to have my eureka moment! So jealous right now!

It'll come, just stay after it. I've had color in a pan before, but this is the first I have ever found on my own. The feeling was overwhelming. I couldn't believe it! And I know there's more waiting in the same hole :-)

 

[Aurabbit79er]

I would now dig until I found a big cluster of larger river rocks that piled up together, by digging perpendicular to the water flow through the zone you are in.
You should find the path the gold took during the last major flood. The deeper you dig the bigger the river rock should get. Big rock traps gold.
I found my latest 2 grams in dry wash like this. View attachment 735167 See the piled up big rocks?
Good gold in that dirt.

The weather was iffy all week end. Rain on and off. After this picture it clouded up and got misty. I had dry dirt so I worked until the dust turned to mud and started building up on the screen.I cleaned up and called it a day. The next day was still wet so I packed up the gear and brought it back to camp. Did my clean uphoping the weather would improve, it didn't, but I was ready to work wet. Had my little genny and a pump so I ran my recirculator. Before the end of the day I took 5 buckets back to my dig and filled them.
Back at camp I classified them to 1/4". That made 3 buckets. I have them here at home and I am running them in my garage.

 

[Sample Pan Dan]

Hope you find some more color :-)

 

[Goldwasher]

Hey Drywalman...Yea I wanted to make sure if you thought all blm was no drywashing or if you happened to be an a BLM area that was actually regulated.BLM land in the deserts is typically mined that way for small scale production. I grew up around Perris Ca. North on the 15 if i remember correctl Anza Borrego did have some heavier regulations.But, depending on where you are you should be good to go...i would look into it drywashing is a fun way to dig...I have caried a Gadz pretty far ...they seem to get heavier on the way out!

 

[Sample Pan Dan]

Hey Drywalman...Yea I wanted to make sure if you thought all blm was no drywashing or if you happened to be an a BLM area that was actually regulated.BLM land in the deserts is typically mined that way for small scale production. I grew up around Perris Ca. North on the 15 if i remember correctl Anza Borrego did have some heavier regulations.But, depending on where you are you should be good to go...i would look into it drywashing is a fun way to dig...I have caried a Gadz pretty far ...they seem to get heavier on the way out!

Thanks Pville, ya it all seems heavier on the way out, doesn't it!? Yes I really Sotho k I need to look into a drywasher, but funds are the hang up at the moment. I also know that the creek I'm using wont be running in late summer and fall. Ya this is good old regular BLM land open for mineral extraction. Again I am new to this, so it's a learning curve, not only in the field, but also laws, regulations and such. I'm just excited that all my exploration and panning finally paid off. I was kinda walking in there blind last fall when I got started. So like I said, budget is tight, but I know the more I work and the more Au I find, the more I will want and hopefully be able to fund some more equipment.

Again I wanna thank everyone on the forum, not only for helping my education :-) but also for the congrats.

 

[Aurabbit79er]

Thanks Pville, ya it all seems heavier on the way out, doesn't it!? Yes I really Sotho k I need to look into a drywasher, but funds are the hang up at the moment. I also know that the creek I'm using wont be running in late summer and fall. Ya this is good old regular BLM land open for mineral extraction. Again I am new to this, so it's a learning curve, not only in the field, but also laws, regulations and such. I'm just excited that all my exploration and panning finally paid off. I was kinda walking in there blind last fall when I got started. So like I said, budget is tight, but I know the more I work and the more Au I find, the more I will want and hopefully be able to fund some more equipment.



Again I wanna thank everyone on the forum, not only for helping my education :-) but also for the congrats.

Equipment is true sign of gold fever.
I mentioned this before, I have a mining company in my garage, both store bought, new, used, and homemade and modified to fit my mining needs.
If I couldn't buy a new piece I needed(or thought I needed), and couldn't afford it I looked for plans for a home build on line or someone selling used.I was recently Camping with Pat Keene for the first time, and He said my drywasher was the oldest 151 he'd ever seen still working.
I bought it used from a friend who took good care of it.
I still catches gold. It caught gold 2 weeks ago. And it will catch more at the end of this month I hope.

 

[Sample Pan Dan]

It will catch more! And so will I. :-)
You like my new avatar? It's my little piece of gold at 400x magnification. Lots of character for such a little guy....

 

[DesertNuggets]

It will catch more! And so will I. :-)
You like my new avatar? It's my little piece of gold at 400x magnification. Lots of character for such a little guy....

Cute little guy! Or girl?

Looks like it has traveled a tiny bit.

 

[Sample Pan Dan]

Cute little guy! Or girl?

Looks like it has traveled a tiny bit.

Lol! Ya that was my thought exactly, this little piece wasn't to far from "home" when I found it.

 

[Sample Pan Dan]

Equipment is true sign of gold fever.
I mentioned this before, I have a mining company in my garage, both store bought, new, used, and homemade and modified to fit my mining needs.
If I couldn't buy a new piece I needed(or thought I needed), and couldn't afford it I looked for plans for a home build on line or someone selling used.I was recently Camping with Pat Keene for the first time, and He said my drywasher was the oldest 151 he'd ever seen still working.
I bought it used from a friend who took good care of it.
I still catches gold. It caught gold 2 weeks ago. And it will catch more at the end of this month I hope.<img src="http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=735938"/>

Ok so necessity is the mother of invention they say. I've been looking at random crap laying to make a sluice out of on a commercial office building I've been working on for a while. The body of the sluice I've had in mind for a while, today it all came together. I cut a piece of plexiglass as my slick plate, and used paint stir sticks to create my drop riffles. Used contact spray glue and clams to put it together. After the glue dries I will primer and paint the whole thing to seal the wood, and weather permitting I'm gonna give her a test run this weekend :-)

 

[Sample Pan Dan]

I should have taken some pics of it running... Didn't think about it till I got home. It caught the pieces o lead I feed it, so I ran a bucket of material thru it. Didn't find any gold, but it caught lots of black sand, and some bird shot... So it should catch gold if I put some they it.
Here's the little section of creek, you can tell someone moved rocks around for a larger sluice.

 

[GarretDiggingAz]

Nice find.

On the sluice you've got no matting but I don't know, maybe not needed. I'm sure they never used in the old days. I've been thinking about making a type of sluice as well.
If you've got a leaf blower, you could make a dry washer. Also I've seen a manual one. Just make sure if you do this, wear a mask.
I still can't wait to get to my spot and see if I can find my gold again. Been 15 years since I was there but found four good flakes. Couldn't guess the weight. Was thin but about 1/4 size of a dime. Then my container got blown over and off truck. I was panning by headlight. It was a last minute decision to hit this small waterfall. I was so upset to lose my first gold.

 

[hotrod]

sweet! u should tryout for that goldrush show!

 

[Gravelwasher]

Feels good to prove to yourself that gold is not a mythical creature..lol Way to go it gets better.

 

[Sample Pan Dan]

Nice find.

On the sluice you've got no matting but I don't know, maybe not needed. I'm sure they never used in the old days. I've been thinking about making a type of sluice as well.
If you've got a leaf blower, you could make a dry washer. Also I've seen a manual one. Just make sure if you do this, wear a mask.
I still can't wait to get to my spot and see if I can find my gold again. Been 15 years since I was there but found four good flakes. Couldn't guess the weight. Was thin but about 1/4 size of a dime. Then my container got blown over and off truck. I was panning by headlight. It was a last minute decision to hit this small waterfall. I was so upset to lose my first gold.

Correct, there's no matting. It's a simple drop riffle design, the drops are probably only 1/4" deep. I will still be buying a sluice box when I've got a couple bucks in my pocket, but I am happy with the results. Its just very little and won't handle much material very fast.

Again, thanks y'all

 

[GarretDiggingAz]

I'm trying to find a way to do a dry sluice manually operated but not as big as the others. Would have to be easier than dry panning. I don't want to drag equipment a couple miles. Packing in is the way to go. Where I have to hike to water is not there unless it rains of course.
I like you compactness.

 

[Sample Pan Dan]

Ya same here. Very little water and seasonal only, think I want to make myself a compact size hand operated bellows type drywasher. I know there's plans out there.