a perfect nugget trap

M3R1IN

Full Member
Oct 6, 2006
167
1
Alberta, Canada
Detector(s) used
Whites DFX, stock and DD coil
I found a perfect nugget/ gold trap in montana last week
a place close to the junction of 2 creeks where there is about a 2 foot drop waterfall and a small pool
they built large culvert here to allow the creek to pass in which a person can stand upright
as the pool ends it runs over natural bedrock that is has very sharp "V" grooves in close succession
it runs in the exact opposite direction of the waterflow, intersecting it as a "t" or "X" would
my question is ,,, how does one nugget shoot here without a dredge?
i have a wet/dry shopvac and an ATV with a AC/DC converter which will run it too...
i am just wondering if it would be worth dragging that hulking mass around the forest or if there is some other more efficient means of cleaning out those cracks?
thanks
 

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M3R1IN

M3R1IN

Full Member
Oct 6, 2006
167
1
Alberta, Canada
Detector(s) used
Whites DFX, stock and DD coil
i havent had time to pan out my concentrates yet, and ive been busy sorting sapphire gravels from Helena as well. I will post some pics of both later this week when i get it all done. So far the sapphires are being very productive ive got 2 over 2 carats and several around the 1ct mark. plus a more rare orange one too
 

larrybass

Full Member
Jan 12, 2006
212
6
Ottawa, Ontario
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Tesoro-Amigo
Awesome pictures there M3R! 8) Looks like a glimpse of God's Country to me. ;) Man, I could spend a month there about now, so remote looking. How far off the blacktop are you out there buddy or how far from the nearest town? :)

Nice Goin' on the Sapphires too man! 8)

Oh Fastforty, I got one of those super squirt/suckers you mentioned in your thread as a tip for M3R. Holy Chitman, that thing is awesome. ;) Who woulda thunk it? You Rock Mister! 8)

M3R, get one of these units. They're amazing! :o


lb
 

eathan

Sr. Member
May 19, 2006
358
12
Oregon
Detector(s) used
Goldmaster V-SAT, ACE 250, Lobo SuperTRAQ
I made a little hand dredge out of a cheapo super soaker squirt gun and have a Coleman can viewer like Jeffro mentioned only with safety glass instead of plexi.

A hand dredge might give you better reach then the enema bulb and the suction is fantastic. There are bunches on ebay and plans around the net.

If you don't have time to make a viewer, we carry one called the PEEK-AU that's pretty good. The manufacturer posts here sometimes under the name rockbuster.

Good luck with your nugget trap and be careful exploring those mines. Bad air is scary business...
 

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M3R1IN

M3R1IN

Full Member
Oct 6, 2006
167
1
Alberta, Canada
Detector(s) used
Whites DFX, stock and DD coil
yeah i think i will carry a H2S detector with me if i go into those mines any deeper or strap on my scuba tank and breathe from that just to be sure. A few days a guy from the province next to me (Saskatchewan) went into the north of the province and went missing... they found him in an old abandoned mine dead... most likely from poisonous gas. I havent had time to pan out those concentrates yet but i did dry them out this afternoon. It was about 90 degrees here today so i finished off a sack of sapphire gravels and i found this beauty http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,90274.0.html
i will post the montana gold when i get a chance to pan the conc.
the nearest town is about 20 miles from this place and its 12km or 7 and a half miles from the nearest paved road.
 

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M3R1IN

M3R1IN

Full Member
Oct 6, 2006
167
1
Alberta, Canada
Detector(s) used
Whites DFX, stock and DD coil
I went to helena on the July 1st weekend again, i did better this time fininding some gold and i got more sapphires i still have about 100lbs of concentrated sapphire gravel to sort through and it takes me a while to do it but i sent off those large sapphires to Thailand to be faceted so im expecting them back mid august and hopefully i'll be able to get some good coin for them. The water speed was manageable in that nugget trap this time around but there seems to be a dispute between 2 claim owners on it and the one guy who lets me pan on his claim asked me to stay off that tributary till he can sort things out... so im kind of mad because the samples i pulled from it turned out to show decent color. Im planning to go back to that area in mid to late august so hopefully i will have access to that tributary by then and i'll see what i can pull up.
 

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M3R1IN

M3R1IN

Full Member
Oct 6, 2006
167
1
Alberta, Canada
Detector(s) used
Whites DFX, stock and DD coil
yeah i dont own any diving equipment other than boots gloves fins and snorkel/mask
being in a land locked province i dont get a chance to dive unless im in Thailand or Hawaii so i always rent my equipment
I dont own a dredge or a hookah air system either.... i have a question about residual nitrogen
At these altitudes of 4-5000ft how will that affect my nitrogen levels even if im staying 24 hours before diving?
The claim owner told me he got nitrogen embolisms once in 15' of water there and it took him 3 hours of decompression before he could drive himself to Helena and get in a hyperbaric chamber, almost killed him in fact... i really should get down to the new 49ers club and take a dredging class in California or something.... anyways im starting to rant so...
 

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