Looking to possibly move west

[Mgumby16]

So I've started looking for jobs out west primarily in Idaho, Wyoming and Utah. Just based off of amount of gold bearing areas and mineable quantities of gold which state would everyone pick. Also based off of the states friendliness to mining.

From my research Idaho allows 5 inch dredges, Utah 4 inch as wyoming 3 inch. All require some sort of permit to dredge. If I do move west I'd also be looking to obtain a claim at some point.

Thanks everyone!

 

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[aa battery]

i like the people in Idaho

 

[Jeff95531]

X's 2 for Idaho

 

[KevinInColorado]

From what I've heard, Idaho has the best gold of those three...haven't been myself yet tho.

 

[Adventure_Time]

So I've started looking for jobs out west primarily in Idaho, Wyoming and Utah. Just based off of amount of gold bearing areas and mineable quantities of gold which state would everyone pick. Also based off of the states friendliness to mining.

From my research Idaho allows 5 inch dredges, Utah 4 inch as wyoming 3 inch. All require some sort of permit to dredge. If I do move west I'd also be looking to obtain a claim at some point.

Thanks everyone!

Idaho #1
Wyoming #2
Utah #3

 

[Lanny in AB]

Been chasing the gold in Idaho and Utah. Utah gold I found was finer, and the Idaho gold I found was chunkier. Very friendly people in both states, especially when you connect with local miners or prospectors that share the passion for enjoying the fun of chasing the gold.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[utah mason]

First thing i would consider is what you do for a living ? Do you need to be in a larger city or small town work? I'm new to prospecting being my first year, But after a little research noticing that I'm about 6-8 hours in every direction from good ground (salt lake area) So a bit of a drive. Go north west Boise basin , strait north Montana, west colorado, south Arizona and parts of Nevada, straight west Nevada and north California. So good areas but like I said a bit of a drive. I grew up in Logan Utah a short drive to Idaho boarder, so I did a bit a camping, hiking and ATV riding in southern idaho. Beautiful country! Idaho's one of the lowest population per acre in nation which when trying to find land is prospect is great. Boise is a decent size city, not sure what job market is like. For most people I would imagine it would come down to were you could make the most money at your regular job, cost of living and most importantly housing cost.
Good luck!

 

[russau]

So I've started looking for jobs out west primarily in Idaho, Wyoming and Utah. Just based off of amount of gold bearing areas and mineable quantities of gold which state would everyone pick. Also based off of the states friendliness to mining.

From my research Idaho allows 5 inch dredges, Utah 4 inch as wyoming 3 inch. All require some sort of permit to dredge. If I do move west I'd also be looking to obtain a claim at some point.

Thanks everyone!

there is NO PERMIT needed in Wyoming! the BLM asks that you fill out a form just to let them know where youll be so that incase of fire / emergency they know where to reach you! 4 years ago the BLM guys came a knocking on my trailer because of the fire and informed us on the only route left to get out! that fire kept me from dredgeing with Reed that year!

 

[Goldwasher]

All tough states for work unless your in a pretty specific few industries...what do you do for a living usually?

 

[Mgumby16]

Thanks everyone for the input! Of course where I ultimately en up where depend on where i can acquire a job. I work as a geologist currently and will be applying I geology positions in those states. If any of you know of any companies looking for a geologist in those states let me know! Thanks again.

Being from the east coast I am rather unfamiliar with the mining claim system. I'm starting to look into but it seems daunting. I'm going to keep researching on the web and my land matters more before I start asking questions about how to find and stake claims.

 

[Jeff95531]

Here ya go

Geology Jobs in Idaho | Simply Hired

 

[bobw53]

Being from the east coast I am rather unfamiliar with the mining claim system. I'm starting to look into but it seems daunting.

It is intimidating at first... I just went through it all... Bought a claim on e-bay.. Got scammed (not much money)... So I was damn determined to
get that claim... The hard part is figuring out WHAT to research, and then HOW to do the research.... The rest is just banging some stakes in the
ground, and filling out a few pieces of paper and writing a few checks.

All that research put into filing a claim is also the same exact research you *should* do anytime you go out digging. So it is something you will need to know
how to do anyways...

I kind of had my feet to the fire and was on a mission when I was trying to figure it all out... What would have been nice... Practice...

My suggestion.. Find a county with claims in it, that has all their records on line. Even if its not going to be where you move to. Then pick a section and
start practicing... Its actually kind of fun, and you can run into some neat old documents...

And don't be afraid of the county clerks office. Scared me at first... I didn't know what the hell I was doing, I just had a list of Book and Page #'s I wanted to see...
They sat down with me at their computer and showed me how to use the system, and then came back when I couldn't figure something out... Its an OLD system
from '84. $1 a copy... and no photography in the records room(but you can take notes)... They did however tip me off to the fact that you can call or e-mail them and they will e-mail
you the documents... For Free... Because its not a "copy". They were/are really nice and helpful people, all of them.. I'm not sure if every clerks office is that way, but I
was pleasantly surprised.

Its really not that hard, but it is intimidating at first. There really are no shortcuts or cheats*, you really do have to do it all.

* I did get to cheat.. All the lode claims around my claim are owned by the same company, and I found a map of all of them in a report from the company..

Have fun with it.

 

[Mgumby16]

Thanks again for the input. I'm already starting to research the claims system and in sure I'll figure it out.

Also I need to throw Montana an Colorado into the running for possible places to live.

 

[Goldwasher]

One night a few years ago I was pumping some gas into my NON DIESEL '69 Baja beetle ...it's like 11:30 at night. I look over and theres an suv with a Colorado school of Mines sticker. I hit the guy up. He was starting work at the Lincoln Mine. Formerly the Sutter Creek Gold Mine Tour. I had done the tour a few months earlier. There was A LOT of underground activity at the time and they talked about the exploratory work on the tour. That guy and you Mr, Ima geologist trying to decide where to go in these "uh hem...." terrible places...I don't like either of you at all!!!!!

P.S. GOOD LUCK HAVE FUN TAKE PICTURES!!!!!!!!

 

[Mgumby16]

Well based off of what one reading it seems like dredging in Idaho is almost more pain then it's worth with all the permits and restrictions on time allowed dredging and all the reporting you need to do.

Does anyone on here have experience dredging in Idaho with all the new regulations that have come down since 2013?