Anyone help with information on northern Mexico

[Jwoot]

I took a job down here In Chihuahua City about 7 months ago which you can see the location in the picture below. I'm getting pretty bored since college football season ended and Todd Hoffman can't find any gold so I may as well try. I have to be a little careful as it can be a little dangerous and the I don't know the laws(tough research with my weak Spanish) so I will try to keep it on private land.. Its still a bit like the old west down here once you leave the city. I am having a lot of trouble finding information on mining history, I would think the Spanish would have documented it to a degree. Can anyone help me out with information? Anything would help.

There is a gold/silver belt called Sierra Madre Occidental right to the west and some maps show it well over Chihuahua City. I believe that's the name of the mountain range but I'm not sure. There are a lot of mines in this belt(just to the west of Chihuahua city) and then there are quite a few a couple hours to the south of the city as well. Most of them are mainly silver mines that also mine gold as a by product in pretty decent quantities I believe.

A few of the guys who work at the plant with me have private property in their family and would let me prospect around. There is no water so I guess I would take bags and sample a few places in a couple creeks then pan it at home. If I found anything I could get a dry washer.

You can see the city a little ways south of Juarez/El Paso









Here are some photos of a creek near work. Just to give an an example of the terrain. I dont know why the photos are showing up sideways. They correct when you enlarge them.

 

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[Goldwasher]

Nice pictures nice gravel the only thing I know about N. Mexico is to not go there if I want a good chance of living, especially if I will be near anything of value on the black market like Gold...... But, If I was you and there I would try to find a good trustworthy bi- lingual local and have him help in google searches and phone calls to Government Mining /Geology dept. or Universities Mexico has good schools for the people who can go to them. If I may what kind of work do you do? The only people and I know a few who can easily work and travel in Mexico can because of Family.

 

[Jwoot]

There are quite a few Americans and Canadians down here working in different industries(I'm in aviation). This is where some of the jobs have gone.

Its not as dangerous as they say. I go out drinking with my buddies all the time and so does everyone else. Its no worse than going downtown in one of the more dangerous US cities. In the past it was bad but they have cleaned it up. Most of the fighting now is just among gang members and away from everything.

I don't mean to sound rude but I don't want this thread to turn into a thread about how dangerous Mexico is. Things aren't currently as bad as the US media portrays... This is not Ciudad Juarez. Also, safety is the reason I will keep on private property in the middle of no where(and it really is) rather than wandering around on creeks on the side of the roads.

 

[Jonsered]

Having grown up on the border and done a ton of business in Mexico, you need what we used to call a fixer. Local dude, knows the right people, where to go and not to go, which government officials and cops are which. Its not a full time paid gig, just a guy you can give a few bucks to for an answer or an introduction, and somebody in your circle knows one of these guys. I'm not encouraging illegal behavior, this is an old and honored tradition in Mexico. One good fixer handles all your above questions. Just my opinion.


As for history of mining in the area, I may be able to help you out, and If I find the book I think I still have, I'll PM you. Good luck man. I used to love Mexico before it got crazy, and its still a very cool country.

 

[golden sluice]

Hello jwoot, I think you are going to have to try to think of this area as it once was... meaning in geologic history, ancient river beds, exposed bed rock, clay barrier layers and tailing piles are where I would start. Also glean as much info from the infernal net and locals if you can.
Dry panning with jeff williams on youtube might help in your situation. Good luck... stay safe git'n the gold!

 

[kazcoro]

I can't imgaine that Mexico has been hit REAL hard with detectors. That is where I would start. Get a cheaper unit and go nuts for a while. Get a Gold Bug Pro, a Tesoro Lobo, etc. I recently sold an original Gold Bug on craigslist, and the guy who bought it was sending it to Mexico for his dad to use. The people down there are working really old mine dumps, and finding nuggets. Good luck.

 

[Clay Diggins]

Great mineralization in that area jwoot. Nice people too. The gravels look like they might be good but you need to figure out who has the mineral rights.

Have you seen drywashers in the area? Usually if there is good gold the mineral owner will lease out to individual drywashers by the day or week. If you aren't seeing small drywashing parties it's not a good sign that there might be worthwhile placer deposits.

Before digging anywhere pay your respects to the local Hefe. Just common courtesy and custom and if you get the nod from him nobody will mess with you while you are digging.

 

[Jwoot]

Great mineralization in that area jwoot. Nice people too. The gravels look like they might be good but you need to figure out who has the mineral rights.

Have you seen drywashers in the area? Usually if there is good gold the mineral owner will lease out to individual drywashers by the day or week. If you aren't seeing small drywashing parties it's not a good sign that there might be worthwhile placer deposits.

Before digging anywhere pay your respects to the local Hefe. Just common courtesy and custom and if you get the nod from him nobody will mess with you while you are digging.

Its an entirely different ballgame. I cant find anybody who knows anything about prospecting for gold, let alone drywashing. They know of the mines and thats it. In more poor countries they dont have time for recreational activities such as gold prospecting and the price has only been high for a decade now so if there is gold right outside the city nobody seems to know anything about mining or even the gold price.

On a side note this sort of compares to how America has a huge perscription drug use problem. Well down here you can get anything you want at any pharmacy but you dont see people abusing it. They are more worried about feeding themselves and their families. Homeless people here really want food and not money, I watched one dig my ice cream cone out of the garbage. In the USA had I given half an Ice cream cone to a homeless man it would be thrown back at me 90% of the time at least.

As far as mineral rights I have been trying to research that. Its tough. But this is a big reason I will be staying on private property just to prospect a little and see if anything is here. Im not sure if mineral rights here are often seperated from property ownership or not like in the USA. That will be something I will find out.

 

[Jwoot]

I can't imgaine that Mexico has been hit REAL hard with detectors. That is where I would start. Get a cheaper unit and go nuts for a while. Get a Gold Bug Pro, a Tesoro Lobo, etc. I recently sold an original Gold Bug on craigslist, and the guy who bought it was sending it to Mexico for his dad to use. The people down there are working really old mine dumps, and finding nuggets. Good luck.

Thats a good idea. I'll have to look into that. I dont have the slightest clue about detecting but I guess I can check it out. Do you know roughly what region the mans father was detecting? This area is also flooded with stories of lost treasures and I believe quite a few battles were fought here.

Do you guys ever bump into silver when detecting in the western USA?

 

[Clay Diggins]

I just noticed that you are south of Juarez? I misunderstood you to be in Sonora State/ Sierra Madre. The area south of Juarez is better known for silver and some tin/copper. Not drywashing territory. You may have to travel a bit west to get to some good gold ground.

 

[Clay Diggins]

Here's some basic information on Mexican Mining laws. Not much different than the United States.

Mining law in Mexico

 

[Jwoot]

I'm about 260 miles south of Juarez. I just got some info from some guys at work about Santa Eulalia which is 15 minutes away and I think is the oldest down in the state, one of the oldest in the country. It was an old mining town and still is today. There is a little information on it but a lot of it doesnt mention gold much.

 

[kazcoro]

Thats a good idea. I'll have to look into that. I dont have the slightest clue about detecting but I guess I can check it out. Do you know roughly what region the mans father was detecting? This area is also flooded with stories of lost treasures and I believe quite a few battles were fought here.

Do you guys ever bump into silver when detecting in the western USA?

No, I don't recall.

 

[Lanny in AB]

Jwoot,

Try to find some of the older guys to talk to. You will probably have to get an interpreter to go along, but some of those old boys must know something if there's gold in the area. I've always found people like that to be some of the most valuable "research" material I've ever run across. It takes time, and then it takes some more time, but if you have the time and you can find some of those Mexican "Sourdoughs" or someone that had a dad or a grandpa that chased the gold, it's well worth the time investment.

If you absolutely fun into a dead-end trying that technique, then you're back to whatever mineral maps you can get for your area. If you're on any of your private area spots, look for signs of mineralization (iron staining on rocks that are heavier than they should be, rotten quartz that's heavily stained, ironstone, pyrite, etc.) and go at it old school with a detector to prospect out a good spot.

All the best, and I'd love to be there with you on your adventure,

Lanny

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/metal-detecting-gold/69-bedrock-gold-mysteries.html

 

[Clay Diggins]

We've run into a lot of silver on the southeast border of Arizona. A well known silver area with large nuggets.

Santa Eulalia is well known for it's hardrock silver mines. Here's an English language paper on the mining history:
Full text of "General report on the Santa Eulalia mining district and the old Spanish mines of the Fresno ranch"

Check out mindat for more local information on the mineralization in your area:
Mindat.org

It looks like you will have to go West to get into placer gold territory. Drywashing is quite common in the gold placer regions of Mexico. Look for small groups making their living shoveling into homemade wooden drywashers. When you see them you will know you are near good ground.

 

[Lanny in AB]

We've run into a lot of silver on the southeast border of Arizona. A well known silver area with large nuggets.

Santa Eulalia is well known for it's hardrock silver mines. Here's an English language paper on the mining history:
Full text of "General report on the Santa Eulalia mining district and the old Spanish mines of the Fresno ranch"

Check out mindat for more local information on the mineralization in your area:
Mindat.org

It looks like you will have to go West to get into placer gold territory. Drywashing is quite common in the gold placer regions of Mexico. Look for small groups making their living shoveling into homemade wooden drywashers. When you see them you will know you are near good ground.

Excuse me for jumping in here on your thread, but I just wanted to let Clay know how much I appreciate the research he does to help others!

Nicely done.

All the best,

Lanny

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/metal-detecting-gold/69-bedrock-gold-mysteries.html

 

[Clay Diggins]

Excuse me for jumping in here on your thread, but I just wanted to let Clay know how much I appreciate the research he does to help others!

Nicely done.

All the best,

Lanny

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/metal-detecting-gold/69-bedrock-gold-mysteries.html

Thanks Lanny! It's nice to be appreciated.

We have a rather extensive mining/earth sciences library and we are working on getting it so the public can access it. It really helps to have the source materials close at hand.

 

[Lanny in AB]

Thanks Lanny! It's nice to be appreciated.

We have a rather extensive mining/earth sciences library and we are working on getting it so the public can access it. It really helps to have the source materials close at hand.

That would be very helpful indeed!

All the best, and I'd best vacate this thread before I'm accused of hijacking it,

Lanny

 

[Jwoot]

Thanks a lot Clay.

 

[LP13]

We've run into a lot of silver on the southeast border of Arizona. A well known silver area with large nuggets.

Santa Eulalia is well known for it's hardrock silver mines. Here's an English language paper on the mining history:
Full text of "General report on the Santa Eulalia mining district and the old Spanish mines of the Fresno ranch"

Check out mindat for more local information on the mineralization in your area:
Mindat.org

It looks like you will have to go West to get into placer gold territory. Drywashing is quite common in the gold placer regions of Mexico. Look for small groups making their living shoveling into homemade wooden drywashers. When you see them you will know you are near good ground.

Don't know if it is any help, but in the early 1970's I hitchhiked into Mexico, and on the way back out, stopped down at the river to clean up a bit and cool off and found a nugget of sliver that weighed 8 ounces! I stopped in at a little roadside stand nearby (we were half way between Nogales and Magdelena just inside the Mexico border,) and talked with some guy who lived nearby. He said that there was a lot of silver and gold around there, but the government took so much of the values and when they paid for the labor, there was almost nothing left! He was wanting US investors if we could find any, as for some reason, apparently a foreign investor could somehow get around all the taxation of the government. Not sure I understood that then or now, or even if I recall those details correctly now. But I do remember well the silver nugget! The river bend I stopped at was right next to the highway.