Am I doing this right?

[nuggetmusterer]

I'm brand new to this world, but determined and excited to find some flakes! I bought a basic panning kit, and spent the weekend roaming around the hills, panning and exploring. I'm hoping to get critiqued on where I'm looking . . . I did a little research on Land Matters to make sure I wasn't panning on someone else's claim. There are few active gold claims up the canyon of where I was sampling.

First, I found an old creek bed with a dry waterfall. I dug about 2 feet down and collected a 5 gallon bucket full of hopeful pay dirt from there. I took the bucket down to the small stream, panned the bucket, but didn't have any luck. Was this a good spot to sample? Am I wasting my time? Should I have dug down deeper, shallower, sampled every 6 inches? There was no cavity at the base of the dry waterfall...
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Then, I came across this exposed conglomerate of an old riverbed (I'm assuming that's what it is). I didn't sample anything, but am wondering if this would be a good spot to gather hopeful pay dirt? If so, how should I determine which height on the wall to dig at? It didn't erode equally up the wall, so I'm assuming that different layers are more likely to contain gold.
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After a few hours, I decided to take a break and hike up the canyon to look at active claims and see how the professionals do it. It is my understanding that I am allowed on their claim as long as I don't take anything. Is it still bad etiquette to snoop around? I'm genuinely just intrigued by the history and workings of the mine. The claimant had his post staked out, and there was a piece of PVC pipe with papers inside. I opened up the pipe to see what the paperwork looked like, but it was soaked with rain and not legible. Then, I went over to the mine. I started by going a couple feet inside, but my curiosity got the best of me and I kept going (I know this is really dangerous. Please only lecture me if you've never made a bad decision for curiosity sake). The mine was really deep and followed a beautiful quartz vein for 50 yards or so. At one point, there was spray paint that said "GOLD!" with an arrow pointing to the quartz vein. You could visibly see hundreds of small gold flakes embedded into the vein. It was amazing to see (see below for a picture!). My questions for this one are 1) Should I mail the claimant and let him know his papers are ruined from the rain? 2) Am I going to get chewed out, beat up, or shot for being on someone else's claim? 3) Am I allowed to pan down stream of his claim? If so, are the boundaries accurate on the Land Matters website?
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Looking for any and all advice! I pretty much expect some lecturing for going into the active mine, but looking to learn from it. Thank you in advance for any information or advice! I've loved reading through all the existing post and have learned a lot from this site.

 

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[deserdog]

You are allowed on the claim. You cannot do any prospecting however. If the stream is not on an active claim, you can prospect.

 

[goldog]

First, you're doing it. That's worth a few points. Sampling around in a gold bearing area. Those piles are huge! I don't know where you are but millions of years worth of water action has taken place.

In the 2nd picture there are two areas I noticed. ---disclaimer--- please be aware of what's around and especially above you--- I noticed larger more water worn boulders. Upper right. Also possibly a prospect near the bottom right. Again... be careful. I see dangerous conditions in that hillside.

 

[nuggetmusterer]

Thank you for the replies! Every bit of information is really helpful.

deserdog - If there are two active lode claims on the hill side, am I allowed to pan the small, seasonal creek that runs the canyon? I've tried to research this question, but have gotten mixed answers.

golddog - Thanks for the hint! I'm intrigued by the geology of this as much as I am finding any trace of gold. The wall is definitely questionable in terms of stability! There are spots on the side without an ominous, loose head wall where I think I could sample from (safely) if I wanted to. I'm just not sure which layer to go at, as nothing stands out to me as bedrock.

 

[goldog]

Looks like bedrock in the lower part of the picture. Next to that old prospect hole.

 

[arizau]

It is not your responsibility to notify the claim owner of the wet papers. I would not enter a mine if I knew it was claimed and, mostly for personal safety, probably not even if it wasn't.

That cliff looks dangerous to dig in but, with that said, I would sample an area of mixed smaller gravels, etc. if they were underlying larger boulders. Keep in mind that there could have been some uplifting and tilting of the bed so the layers, if there are any, may not be horizontal.

Good luck.

PS: If that cliff site is not claimed I would take some samples down slope from it. That is where the rest of the cliff is.

 

[Goldwasher]

Eastern Ca.? Nevada? Eastern Oregon? Does look like an old river channel. Though without seeing if you closer to a bigger range it could be part of an old alluvial fan.

If it is the Inyo or White Mountains it could be part of an old channel that does have good gold.

 

[Johnnybravo300]

Land matters doesn't show the exact claim boundaries so be careful. The only way to get the details is from the BLM.
Land matters updates their info from the BLM but the BLM is the most accurate and up to date.
They usually match up pretty well but the lr2000 is the original source for today's info.
If you get caught in a mineral trespass it's a felony so you need to be sure.
Take the MTRS data to the country recorder and see the claim maps. It's the only way

 

[benny]

If there are two active lode claims on the hill side, am I allowed to pan the small, seasonal creek that runs the canyon?

If those are lode claims, I believe you should be able to prospect and even file a placer claim on that same land. Better get confirmation on this, though.

 

[Goldwasher]

You can not prospect on any claim without permission. If you have a placer and give permission do it in writing with the right to discover a lode specifically FORBIDDEN!
You can go to the county and see the map that is on file. all you need is the name of the locator or the serial number for the claim(s)

If you did file a placer you would not have access to the surface of the lodes. Though I believe you would have to do a metes and mounds location. if you could.

I think you would have to claim along it not around it. It is not something I would try to figure out.Unless the ground was really really worth it.

if you share some more info on your location I can give you some more info on your location. Even if you are just giving a general area.

Sometimes the best thing to do is contact the locator. They may live close by, they may invite you out, they may help you find your own good ground.

 

[Goldwasher]

Also a portal and tunnel doesn't mean it is a lode claim. It could be a drift to access that old channel.

Spraypaint that says gold also doesn't mean gold. That rock looks like granite. People mistake shiney flakes in granite for gold often.

 

[benny]

Goldwasher, can you give me more specific information? I've seen where placer claims overlapped load claims, but don't understand the specific rules that apply.

 

[Goldwasher]

I would have to see what you saw. Keep in mind that a claim can be recorded and be over-filed over a valid claim and is not valid itself. Just because it is seen a certain way doesn't necessarily mean it's valid.

You can file a lode on a placer you can't file a placer over a lode.

Some details may change by state and district but, that is the way it works.

Claydiggins will hopefully give a better answer or thumbs up if I did ok.

 

[benny]

You can file a lode on a placer you can't file a placer over a lode.

That's what I missed. Thanks!