Decent day at Auburn SRA

[419GottaMinute]

Going to mineral bar today. Can't decide whether to hike back up to my hole or go take windy point trail... I have a sneaky suspicion someone cleaned my hole out already.

 

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[419GottaMinute]

Went back and finished my hole, looks like it was just a flood deposit and I got most of ot rhe first day. Still have to pan out my cons but only got 10 or 15 little flakes...maybe a .10 gram :-( I'll post pics when I finish
P.s. weight from the one good day was 1.1 dwt

 

[NorCalPilot]

Nice! Heading out this weekend?

 

[419GottaMinute]

Not sure. ..having some crappy health problems.

 

[Alex Burke]

Sorry to hear, maybe someone in this thread knows can I use a goldcube with a highbanker attachment in the Auburn rec area? Does the waterpump make it illegal? I read some other threads and suspect I can't at this point but could someone clarify. Thanks.

 

[NorCalPilot]

I put 36 buckets through my new BGT Prospector today and came up with this:

 

[oldbrundogg]

Wow that looks great NorCal, and 36 buckets sounds like there's plenty of material to work you should do very well in that spot.
Good luck and good hunting
OBD

 

[KevinInColorado]

Did you classify at all? How long we're you out there digging to do 36 buckets?

 

[NorCalPilot]

Did you classify at all? How long we're you out there digging to do 36 buckets?

I did not classify. I was on the river for about 8 hours, including panning out all cons and stopping for lunch. My buddy came out for a few hours and he ran some buckets through the BGT as well. This was my first trip out with the BGT and I wanted to run as much material as possible. The gravel bar I'm working on is about 8 feet high from water level, layered with rocks, gravel, and sand from various floods. I haven't taken time to figure out which layers carry the most gold, but I think that could increase recovery. All layers carry some gold, so I've just been running it all.

 

[MadMarshall]

NorCal I am not sure if you if you were at mineral bar or yankee jims or even ponderosa my rule of thumb is I never dig lower then two maybe three feet down as all I expect to find is Flood gold..There are a few exceptions I suspect... But generally below robbers Ravine By Iowa Hill on Down to clementine I will never dig to bedrock or hella deep as what tools are allowed and what is considered recreational Prospecting maybe an issue..Also there is alot of pockets with worthless gravel above the water line that are only inches to a couple feet above bedrock do a quick sample pan if no gold empty out that gravel and look for cracks and crevices I have done well doning that sometimes..I have shoveled bedrock from shelfs 10 feets above the water line just to break some cracks..

 

[KevinInColorado]

NorCal, thanks for the added info, looks like your *first* run with the bgt went great!

 

[NorCalPilot]

MadMarshall, thanks for the tips! I have no idea how far above bedrock the gravel bar lies--maybe 10, 20 or even 50 feet with all the old timers' tailings in the river. It's all flood gold where I've been working. I've been digging into the side of the bank rather than down from the surface to safe a lot of effort. I think I may shift tactics and find the pay streak working from the top down.

I am very impressed with the BGT Prospector. The surging river was a non-issue. On Todd's advice, I ran it as level as possible with good water flow to catch the fine gold. I was able to run 2-3 times as many buckets as I normally do with the A52 in a one-man operation. Gone are the days of feeding the sluice with a trowel!

 

[NorCalPilot]

I went out to Drivers Flat and Cherokee Bar last week on two separate trips. Drivers Flat has been plowed/leveled and is in decent condition. Sliger Mine Road to Cherokee Flat was a bit rougher. I definitely wouldn't try it without 4WD. Around 2PM, the river started rising about 5+ feet from where I was sluicing in the morning, and all those dry channels from earlier in the day had water in them!

 

[419GottaMinute]

Releasing water for the rafters

 

[sidvail]

I went out to Drivers Flat and Cherokee Bar last week on two separate trips. Drivers Flat has been plowed/leveled and is in decent condition. Sliger Mine Road to Cherokee Flat was a bit rougher. I definitely wouldn't try it without 4WD. Around 2PM, the river started rising about 5+ feet from where I was sluicing in the morning, and all those dry channels from earlier in the day had water in them!

So you don't recommend Sliger Mine road with a little saturn sedan? Was thinking of going up there on a day trip. I've done Drivers Flat road, so maybe I should use that one instead.

 

[NorCalPilot]

sid, sorry for the *year late* reply, but as of last year, I wouldn't go down Sliger Mine Rd without a 4WD. I was overseas for nearly all of this season, so I can't speak to the current conditions. If I remember correctly, Drivers Flat is gated until April 15, but I'm not sure about Sliger Mine.

 

[goldenmojo]

Its gated too. April 15th.

 

[The Gilded Lens]

Between Purdone and Nelson upstream is where the Yuba Goldfields ancient river of gold crosses the river,pulled many MANY pounds dredging and quite a bit detecting also. Hahaha I know thousands a places,hideyholes and niches after 57 years a gold grubbn' this state and don't mind sharing a few-John

Isn't Purdon part of the south yuba state park where you can't sluice? I hope I'm wrong. I've wanted to prospect there as it's near to me.

 

[GoldpannerDave]

A couple photos from beautiful Shirttail Creek this morning. Didn't have much time to prospect, but will be back Saturday. Anybody want to meet?

View attachment 775362 View attachment 775364 View attachment 775365 View attachment 775366 View attachment 775367 View attachment 775368

Boy, that is beautiful looking country; and beautiful looking GOLD country!

 

[NorCalPilot]

Chunky gold from the ASRA weekend before last.