Dry Ravines

[Goldwasher]

If you like authentic small scale prospecting videos subscribe to Topcats channel.

It is called TopCat Gold prospecting adventures. The name of the newest video is Metal detecting for gold 2020

He puts out a new video pretty much weekly. You will have to sign in to verify age. Youtube does that so we don't need redundant moderation.

You will get to see Asmbandits, (make sure you subscribe to him too California Motherlode Prospectors) maybe Mytimetoshine A few of my claim partners/neighbors and even ME sometimes

Different areas of the Motherlode and Northern Gold Country. Yuba river The American etc.

This video is from Saturday. most of the video is the end of the day. We were re hitting a few areas we have done well before.

Ole and I got gold but only a few small dinkers. Watch until the end you will get to see what an SDC2300 is capable of and what large coiled minelabs don't hear.

The spot we are on at the end has thrown more than a half ounce .. we're layering down and exposing bedrock for smalls now.

IMHO much better viewing than twenty minutes of any tv show gold "production"

Will never be as cool as moonshine and arm wrestling though

Watch last weeks video and you'll see my partner Ole beep out twenty plus pieces.

They are videos made about fellas out digging I apologize for the age restriction. Be forewarned.

 

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[Goodyguy]

All a matter of time. I was told on a previous post a man can't dig very many yards. Now it has changed that he can? God invented hydraulics for a reason. Three gram yards are not that easy to come by.

Boy aint that the truth

That's the whole point! It's just not cost effective or time efficient to find unclaimed ground, make a discovery, file and stake a claim, then file noi, then poo, put up a bond, wait on an approval, rent or buy, then haul and fuel an excavator, just to test some BLM ground that you think, or have good reason to believe may contain some AU values.

Of course testing a patented claim for purchase with relatively known values is a different animal altogether and may well be worth the cost of using an excavator for testing. A patented or deeded claim will not be subject to all the BLM red tape and will be governed by 1872 mining laws only.

Hope this helps,
GG~

 

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[Rail Dawg]

Man some here are so quick to bust out the big gun machinery!

My brother and I finally find some sweet spots and we're just now up to jackhammers lol. We won't rent the big stuff for maybe a year?

Learned long ago to put the ego aside and listen to those that know what the hell they're talking about. Every saloon in Nevada has the loud-mouth miner who thinks he knows everything. I like the quiet guy in the corner who finally decides to share some secrets once he gets to know you.

Now THAT is gold lol.

Chuck

 

[N-Lionberger]

Man what a joke, a lot of gold bearing ravines and canyons it wouldn't be feasible to take an excavator out to, I know a few where it would be physically impossible!

 

[Goldwasher]

Man what a joke, a lot of gold bearing ravines and canyons it wouldn't be feasible to take an excavator out to, I know a few where it would be physically impossible!

Yep. I cruise right along. Find hots spots clean them out.
Much better profit margin. The ground that requires more involved digging gets treat differently and in Ca. To get everything together to actually profit.

Takes a lot of patience. Plus a very good spot to bother with a lot of the hassle.

 

[Goldwasher]

Goldwasher. Post by our rules, keep your replies respectful and polite.

Sorry sometimes when other people are silly.. i get caught up in it

 

[Silveraith]

Nothing silly about running heavy equipment. That's when the real fun starts. Rip it up!!

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

Just gotta pick out which ravine I want to start crawling the excavator up.
Them hills are full of gold.



Just need to attach a flame thrower to the front.

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

In all actuality, with the right operator these things can pretty much go anywhere.
It's just way outside the scope of what I was suggesting.

 

[Silveraith]

Son, it looks to me like that operator wouldn't know beans with the sack open.

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

This was just a stock photo from the manufacturer I think.

I know it's a highly specialized piece of equipment, with not many qualified operators out there.
In the more sticky situations, they are hung and tied off by cables.

 

[Silveraith]

Charlene says even she wouldn't operate equipment in that situation. That operator in that picture gets the tryin' prize fer stupid.

 

[N-Lionberger]

So how would you dig in that situation Silver?

 

[Silveraith]

Very carefully if at all. You'd have to zig zag a road up to the dig spot. I've done it up here in the mts. but not often. You got to have a safe platform to work off of. Of course, that's some special equipment but without it I wouldn't be doin' it like that.

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

This one isn't even tied off and it's excavating.
It kind of defies logic how stable they apparently are.

They "walk" around on steep slopes. My brothers friend runs them.



Search YouTube for "Spider excavator" or "Walking excavator" when your bored.

There is not much they can't do with the proper preparation (anchors and cables).

 

[mikep691]

Charlene says even she wouldn't operate equipment in that situation. That operator in that picture gets the tryin' prize fer stupid.

You'll find out soon enough that most of the west is even steeper. Besides an operator with a death wish, most are not accessible with standard excav equipment. Time and money, permits for roads, platforms, etc. Just are not feasible for testing.

 

[Silveraith]

Yea, I know you have mountains. We've got 'em here in West Virginia too. Every situation is unique.

 

[mikep691]

Yea, I know you have mountains. We've got 'em here in West Virginia too. Every situation is unique.

Sorry to say, you only have hills in comparison.

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

Sorry to say, you only have hills in comparison.

In all fairness..there are plenty of inaccessible ravines in West Virginia.
It’s just that nobody has had to try and extract gold from any of it. Why in the world would anybody in West Virginia crawl a piece of heavy equipment up into those areas? That’s a legitimate question since I’ve never been there. I suppose communications primarily? Do they log those steep mountains? Doesn’t look like it.

 

[Clay Diggins]

Why in the world would anybody in West Virginia crawl a piece of heavy equipment up into those areas? That’s a legitimate question since I’ve never been there. I suppose communications primarily? Do they log those steep mountains? Doesn’t look like it.

View attachment 1796286

Coal!



That's a cemetery at the top.

Sell your ancestors graves for coal? Shine does funny stuff. It's the methanol.

Yeah there are some really steep hills in West Virginia. The highest hill of all, Spruce Knob, goes up nearly 2800 feet. That's a big hill.

Heavy Pans

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

Clay..sometimes your lazy with your googling..which is in stark contrast with the information you provide that is mining related.

Look further..they have a half dozen mountains listed at over 4500Ft

Anyway...a tradition excavator can slide its way down some pretty steep hills, but they are not much good at climbing that kind of stuff. They have very heavy counter weights in order to reach out so far and dig yards at a time at full extension on a slope. They would have to pull themselves up with the bucket which is limited and slow going. They do get around..lots of timber specific variants.
They have to follow the dozer skid trails up the hillside.

Full disclosure that’s all from just being around that type of stuff...not actual experience.
When I get a backhoe on three wheels, I pucker up pretty good.