mound of black sand

norcalsteve

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Sep 30, 2013
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I live just north of San Francisco and we are bracing for what the news is saying might be the biggest storm in 15 years tonight and tomorrow.
I was driving down the road and came across a community free sandbag and sand station. What did I see but a huge pile of not just sand but black sand. I slammed on my brakes and almost got rear ended. I pulled over and filled my trunk up with bags of black sand. I don't know where it came from or if there is any color in it but I could not stop myself.
Would you have done this too?


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GoldpannerDave

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Apr 17, 2014
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Please let us know what you find in it.
 

Inspector

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Saw the storm report on national news tonight. Hope you make it through safely.
 

bakergeol

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Feb 4, 2004
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Well no. It doesn't look like placer black sand but just regular dark rock. A lot of
it appears to be unbroken.
 

goldenmojo

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If you set your bazooka on the down slope side of the pile with a few well placed sandbags as water diverters you can be sluicing by 9am in the best part of the storm. Explaining to the authorities how to properly pan out the cons should be your only real problem.
 

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norcalsteve

norcalsteve

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Sep 30, 2013
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If you set your bazooka on the down slope side of the pile with a few well placed sandbags as water diverters you can be sluicing by 9am in the best part of the storm. Explaining to the authorities how to properly pan out the cons should be your only real problem.

I like the way you think.
 

Rdg Sluicer

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Dec 11, 2012
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Hmmm hate to rain on your parade but that looks like it came right off the beach in Bodega Bay....
 

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norcalsteve

norcalsteve

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Hmmm hate to rain on your parade but that looks like it came right off the beach in Bodega Bay....

Im not expecting anything. But, I could not just pass by and not bring some home. I got nothing to loose in checking.
 

goldenIrishman

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Personally I think you went about it in the wrong way Steve. You should have run home and grabbed your sluice first. Then run it on site but have the tailing go into the sand bags, That way when the cops stop to check you out, you just have to tell them that you're doing the community a service by filling up sand bags for those that are unable to fill their own. Handicapped, elderly etc. If they write you up after that, they've got to be related to the Grinch.
 

goldenmojo

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HeHeHe Community Service. Good One!
 

DizzyDigger

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Great find Steve!

Think my only issue with taking any would have been that the sand was
there for folks needing to protect their property, so I doubt I'd have taken
what was there. Might have taken a small bucketful, and if there was gold
in it I'd have contacted the fire dept. and asked where the sand came from....8-)
 

Medina Joe

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Its the gold bug. every river, creek, ditch i drive by I just about break my neck. The woman thinks I'm nuts. That may be true. But at least I'm not bat **** crazy
 

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norcalsteve

norcalsteve

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Great find Steve!

Think my only issue with taking any would have been that the sand was
there for folks needing to protect their property, so I doubt I'd have taken
what was there. Might have taken a small bucketful, and if there was gold
in it I'd have contacted the fire dept. and asked where the sand came from....8-)

When I drove by it was 2:00 pm and nobody else was there getting sand. That was not the only sand pile in the parking lot. There were 4 piles like that. The one I took some sand from was the one that people had started taking from. The radio said there were 3 sand stations in our town. There was a lot of sand available.
 

goldog

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Those bags are for protecting important stuff... like gold bearing dirt. Who know what may have happened to it if you hadn't come along.:dontknow:
 

DizzyDigger

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When I drove by it was 2:00 pm and nobody else was there getting sand.
That was not the only sand pile in the parking lot. There were 4 piles like that. The one I took some sand
from was the one that people had started taking from. The radio said there were 3 sand stations in our town.
There was a lot of sand available.

No worries Steve. Did ya get any gold out of it?

There are several small communities locally that get flooded every
time the river gets over flood stage, and the county keeps some
massive sand piles that folks can access when the need arises.
They have one pile about a mile from my house that's a good
city block long and 30'+ high, but there's so much black sand
available on the river banks I never thought of checking that
pile.
 

goldog

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Those bags are for protecting important stuff... like gold bearing dirt. Who knows what may have happened to it if you hadn't come along.:dontknow:
 

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norcalsteve

norcalsteve

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Well i panned some of the sand and found no gold. It was worth a shot.
 

yodi

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You better believe i would have done it. You won't ever know whats there till you try, that's prospecting.
 

Bonaro

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You know you are a miner if.....
You cross three lanes of traffic during rush hour, dive into the median and risk being hit by a semi just the retrieve a plastic bucket someone lost
 

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