Jerry the Prospectors Adventures of Color County

[Asmbandits]

Thanks Erik! Same to you bud not that many people are dedicated like you are, it's only a matter of time until you find something great! We will be back at it soon enough, someone has to get out there and find it!

 

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[Asmbandits]

Time for an update! I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving and holiday and hopefully time off, I know I did! Lucky for me I was able to squeeze in 3 trips, two different rivers, 3 different locations withing the 5 days I had off.. On Wednesday I hit up the NFA with Erik the prospector, Friday was Daddy Daughter prospecting day on SFY, then Saturday Cody and I hit a new location on SFY. It was the coldest prospecting ive ever done, each trip seemed to get colder but it was still a blast and a welcomed change of scenery and experience.

First trip was with Erik the Prospector to a new area on NFA, we had a early start from the valley into the hills and were on the water by 9am. As we made our way towards an area Erik had wanted to check out I couldn't help but notice that only 500 feet above us on the peaks of the canyon walls it was solid white and currently snowing. This soon turned to rain for us but luckily we both were wearing waders and rain coats and not affected much buy it though it was almost impossible to crevice as everything was filling with water fast.. The rain only lasted for about 30 minutes and then it actually became very nice out, sunny and in the mid 50s. At this point I worked mostly in one area while Erik went searching somewhere down river from me. I only had a few cracks to work with, they looked very promising but proved to be otherwise. I did see a pair of young deer swimming down the river literally going down some rapid areas with only their heads poked out of the water, then they would swim over to the bank, walk back up to the head of the rapids and do it again over and over.. I think I watched them do this three times and id swear that they were playing the whole time and this was fun to them. They could have easily crossed if they wanted to but you could tell from the frolicking this was all fun and games. Though that was kind of neat and new to me, other than that is wasn't too eventful, we worked hard and left late but with little to show for it, but was still a great day of prospecting. I made it home with .3 grams this day, so at least I came home with some gold





Second trip was one Id have to say I was looking forward to the most, my daughter has been wanting to get out with me and I finally found a area I could get her to safely and where she could possibly find something as well. She's a trooper and a good prospector I learned! Ive panned with here a few times camping at SFA and NFA but only found a few specs but these were locations more ideal for camping and not prospecting. I wanted to take her on a real prospecting trip so we left home early and worked in a area ive done decent at. It was cold when we arrived only 34 degrees outside but were dressed accordingly and easily made the mile hike to the spot and got to work. I showed her a few examples of what to dig and why and she ran with it, soon she was finding cracks that ive overlooked and showing me a thing or two! We were limited to a small area to work given the terrain but we stayed there all day and dug like crazy and she was getting gold in every pan! We didn't hit anything good and this area has been hit pretty hard but she did get her very first gold of her own that she found herself. Should make a good show and tell at school.. She sure impressed her old man, only 7 and out there all day I kept saying this is the last pan and she wasn't having it! She slept good that night lol.. She is bugging me now for a pair of waders, look what I started!




The third trip out was to a new location on SFY with Cody and it was quite the adventure, Im thinking most wouldn't have stuck around there long let alone be out there at all. We hiked a good couple miles to an area that looked like a winter wonderland! everything was frozen, any standing water was froze over, when you walked on the bedrock ice instantly formed under your wet foot after a few seconds of standing which made it very hard to get around. Gold pans would freeze over in minutes, if we didn't have Codys neoprene dive gloves we couldn't have panned it was just too cold, we dubbed them the panning gloves and shared them to get by. Given the cold and harsh diggings I only panned probably a third of the material I would normally do in a day but did get a few chunkie monkeys that helped warm me and keep me going. It was the coldest ive been doing any prospecting or anything I can think of, it had to be in the 20's where we were working..We drank a lil whiskey to help ram us and worked through it staying all day. I had fun playing on the ice ponds and wish I had some photos of that it was pretty amazing how thick the ice is already. We had a good adventure and both walked away with some gold, Its defiantly a neat to be out there and see the extreme cold side as im sure most dont bother.

 

[mytimetoshine]

Hey your daughters a natural! Mine will be turning 7 next month but she can't pan yet.

 

[Asmbandits]

Yes she is quite the little prospector, turns out she pulled .16 grams her first time out (with my help of course)

And my take for yesterday with Cody was .4 grams, not much but adding to the pile!

 

[KevinInColorado]

Hey your daughters a natural! Mine will be turning 7 next month but she can't pan yet.

Be patient...I've taught hundreds (really) of elementary and middle school aged kids to pan. Most aren't really coordinated enough until age 9 I'd say...some girls faster but not much.

Loved the update ASMB!!!

 

[mytimetoshine]

Be patient...I've taught hundreds (really) of elementary and middle school aged kids to pan. Most aren't really coordinated enough until age 9 I'd say...some girls faster but not much.

Loved the update ASMB!!!

Yea my daughter is a true "girly girl" and she only weights 48 pounds lol. She just doesn't have the arm or hand strength to pan/ dig much yet. But she loves coming with me where she can.

Im Getting her a metal detector for her birthday next month. I think that's what she is gonna like more then prospecting in the long run.

 

[Asmbandits]

Decided to play with my black sand jar today, Its about 2 seasons worth but only about 1 cups worth of material. I don't collect much black sand since I mostly pan and usually end up with a quarter snuffer bottle full each trip out mixed with gold which I clean up at home. I will say this is some good black sand as its the stuff thats right there with the gold at the bottom and super fine. I started off with wet magnet separation, then classified to 50 mesh and panned for about an hour.. I noticed the black sand thats non magnetic is more grey than black and seems just as heavy if not more so than the gold the way it lays and the gold stays suspended throughout it. It may be that there are some other heavy minerals worth something in there so I'll save that as well and possibly one day melt it down. I was amazed at just how much gold there was in one cup of black sand, and this is just a magnet and pan job im sure there is more to be had still in it if heated and milled..

Pulled .26 grams from one cup of black sand, not bad!

 

[arizau]

Nice catch.

Something to think about....If I were just panning I would not be panning down to the extent that you apparently are on every pan and would be bringing home a bigger volume of concentrates. What I would do is only pan down occasionally to the extent that I could see gold (making sure I was still on the gold) then trust that panning to a lesser extent on the other pans would still contain gold BUT in so doing the chance for panning losses streamside would be lessened. The volume I would be taking home would be more on the order of a sluice cleanup or more. Less time spent panning most of the way down in the field would allow you to process more material to a lesser concentration and result in more dirt being processed in a day. More material processed usually equates to more gold captured.

Good luck.

PS IMO removing magnetics is much less important than closely classifying the material prior to final panning efforts. When you closely classify and maybe remove magnetics, the heavies you describe may not be as evident in the panned material. It may turn out that those pieces were merely larger (thus relatively heavy) and more equivalent in weight to the gold found with them

 

[Asmbandits]

Nice catch.

Something to think about....If I were just panning I would not be panning down to the extent that you apparently are on every pan and would be bringing home a bigger volume of concentrates. What I would do is only pan down occasionally to the extent that I could see gold (making sure I was still on the gold) then trust that panning to a lesser extent on the other pans would still contain gold BUT in so doing the chance for panning losses streamside would be lessened. The volume I would be taking home would be more on the order of a sluice cleanup or more. Less time spent panning most of the way down in the field would allow you to process more material to a lesser concentration and result in more dirt being processed in a day. More material processed usually equates to more gold captured.

Good luck.

PS IMO removing magnetics is much less important than closely classifying the material prior to final panning efforts. When you closely classify and maybe remove magnetics, the heavies you describe may not be as evident in the panned material. It may turn out that those pieces were merely larger (thus relatively heavy) and more equivalent in weight to the gold found with them

Your preaching to the choir Arizau, this is exactly what I do and what I've suggested others do in multiple other threads. When panning I bring two pans, I work through the super sluice quickly then back pan until just to the first glimpse of gold pokes through the black sand, then I let the lights and water run to the bottom of the pan while the black sand and gold stay stuck up top. Now I have just the heavier black sand and gold and that is then dumped into a collection pan and repeated several times through the day. I usually end up with no more than a half snuffer bottle of black sand and gold to clean up at home. Some may bring more black sand home if it makes them feel better but I personally don't see the need if you do this correctly. Trying to go any faster than this is unnecessary imo, I mean I pan fast anyone who has seen me can testify to this idk how much faster you could go without losing gold.. I save the careful cleanup for at home.

At home I've been cleaning up with a simple finishing pan an magnet and patience, I use to run everything through the blue bowl but perfer this now. Since its just black sand and gold at this point I don't classify as any gold that's missed will still end up in the black sand jar and will be collected later. I did classify when processing the black sand jar, as it makes sense at that point to do so.

 

[Asmbandits]

Posted in the prospecting forum, but wanted to save here as well..

This morning my daughter comes to me and tells me to close my eyes and put out my hand, and she hands me this home made Christmas tree ornament She said its a early Christmas gift she made for me, she even used some of her real Yuba gold she got on our last outing! She did a really good job for being only 7 years old and thought it up all on her own! To say I'm very proud and that it made my day are an understatement, I have been wanting a gold prospecting related Christmas ornament but surprisingly couldn't find anything online anywhere. I'm one happy Pappa!

 

[mytimetoshine]

Dude that's freaking Awesome! Merry Christmas Christmas to you and your family!

 

[Asmbandits]

Same to you bud, hope yours is merry and golden!

 

[Asmbandits]

So its been quite a while since my last update but I have gotten out about 3-4 times since then. Ive been Focusing on just metal detecting lately with little to no luck. Ive kind of been half searching for hoards and stashes on some old trail systems mixed in with some load deposit hunting on some suspect spots ive noticed in my travels and always wanted to hit with the detector. After a few treacherous trips out on some steep hillsides and one in the snow I actually came home with some gold in the form of a mens 10k gold band! This surprisingly enough came from a group claim in El Dorado county deep in the woods. It was found in the middle of the trail and was the only target all day that wasn't trash! Its hard to guess and age on as it looks like it could be old and also new, but im guessing its newer, sure would be sweet if it were some old timers band but I doubt it. We were really out there pretty far in the middle of the woods so it makes it an even cooler find to me

 

[GrizzlyGremlin]

Wicked find! I'm by no means a jewelry expert, but I'd guess that ring to not be modern.
I mean it could be, but the "universal size" rings dropped out of popularity a while ago. Also the modern versions are more engineered. Who made it? Or what does the stamp look like? Super super cool find man. I've swung is many many similar spots. Down trails a long ways, old clearings, and never have found something like that. Was the area very "trashy" (or target rich) if so you should get into some coins if your finding rings!

 

[Jeff95531]

THAT is cool! I'm not one for jewelry but I would slap that on my pinky and wear it forever!

 

[Asmbandits]

Wicked find! I'm by no means a jewelry expert, but I'd guess that ring to not be modern.
I mean it could be, but the "universal size" rings dropped out of popularity a while ago. Also the modern versions are more engineered. Who made it? Or what does the stamp look like? Super super cool find man. I've swung is many many similar spots. Down trails a long ways, old clearings, and never have found something like that. Was the area very "trashy" (or target rich) if so you should get into some coins if your finding rings!

Thanks Grizz, It was in an area that was trashy compared to the rest of the trail, It didnt really make sense as it wasnt a wide spot or something like that but held a lot of lead also which was strange as it didnt seem like a good area to shot towards.. It very well could be old I guess im no expert, the only markings I can hardly see is the 10k stamping on the inside. So far the only gold found with my gold bug 2 has been jewlery lol, It sure better than nothing!

 

[Asmbandits]

THAT is cool! I'm not one for jewelry but I would slap that on my pinky and wear it forever!

I might try and get it repaired if possible, Im not into jewelry but its a nice looking ring for sure. I might have to sport it while detecting for luck lol!

 

[Rockwerx]

I might try and get it repaired if possible, Im not into jewelry but its a nice looking ring for sure. I might have to sport it while detecting for luck lol!

Nice find! I believe that is an easy repair. Looks like it might have broke at the solder joint.

 

[GrizzlyGremlin]

Thanks Grizz, It was in an area that was trashy compared to the rest of the trail, It didnt really make sense as it wasnt a wide spot or something like that but held a lot of lead also which was strange as it didnt seem like a good area to shot towards.. It very well could be old I guess im no expert, the only markings I can hardly see is the 10k stamping on the inside. So far the only gold found with my gold bug 2 has been jewlery lol, It sure better than nothing!

Nice! That also points to age. Almost ALL jewelry makers or manufacturers these days and in the past as well would stamp a logo, abbreviation, or initials inside the band. It could be worn off which means years of wear.
Great find again, I'd take it to an old jeweler for help with ID.

 

[Asmbandits]

Well, its been a while since ive posted.. I wish I had something Gold related to post but I've only been out a couple times metal detecting in the past few months and they were un productive unfortunately.. I did however finally finsh a project I started to keep myself busy during the rainy season and I'm happy with it how turned out. It could be used to run a electric high banker or blue bowl and power lights/radio/computer or whatever you wish quietly and very efficiently if need be so I guess it could appeal to some here in that aspect. I built it primarily to run my radio equipment indefinitely at home and to be used during power outages. I have a small generator for longer outages and for the travel trailer, but this seemed like it would be a fun project and the idea of free power and what could be done even on a small scale was intriguing enough to pull the trigger on a bunch of do dads and see what I could come up with. So here it is, my solar powered generator!

The heart of this thing (and the most expensive item) is a duracell 80 amp hr AGM battery, the rest was either purchased online (amazon, ebay) and Harbor Freight. In total I spent around $400 on this project, the battery was about $180 alone. It has a dc to ac inverter capable of continues 750 watts, 1000 max, a 1000 watt ac to dc 12v inverter for powering 12v equipment at home if the battery runs low, and a 20A digital solar charge controller. It has a display for battery voltage, one for solar panel voltage and amperage in, and a usage display that shows volts, amps, watts and watt hours going out. It can also charge and run off an external battery if I want. I put the roller casters on it as it isn't light at all and I have hardwood floors and this will make it easy for my wife to use if need be while I'm not home.

Its continuously charged by a small 25 watt panel I mounted on my radio antenna setup on the roof which surprisingly is plenty to keep it fully charged with the radio and scanner running all day, I have yet to see the voltage drop below 13 volts at idle. Im sure if you transmit non stop all day you would need more charging power, but while the equipment is monitoring it only draws 7 watts of power. I have the controller set to shut off power at night and turn back on in the morning automatically. I also have a 100 watt folding briefcase solar panel setup that I can power it with in the field if need be. Ive seen similar products online sell for double or triple what this cost me so I am very happy with the performance it provides for what I spent on it. If it weren't so heavy this would be really cool to use down at the claim.. I intend to eventually buy a cheap video projector and use this puppy to power that and a satellite tv box and sound bar while camping with the family, would be sweet sitting around the campfire watching the SF giants game on 120" screen in the middle of woods!

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