Are theses dredge tailings or something?

[OwenT]

First thing I thought when I saw this on the Columbia River was dredge tailing, but it's actually more of a snaking pattern than the stacked arcs a dredge would make. This area on the river did produce gold.



Note to anyone beginning to read this thread: It was determined that the picture shows the remnants of some sort of gold mining operation. The thread then turns a little off track and there is a debate for several pages. Finally we discuss land status and I try to find out who owns this property.

 

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[arizau]

They seem to be man made whatever the original purpose. Also found this old document for Washington, while searching, that may be of interest to you. http://file.dnr.wa.gov/publications/ger_ofr79-0_placer_gold_mining.pdf

 

[OwenT]

Yes I've been through that before and it includes this location but doesn't provide any details nor does any other report I've come across. I will most likely be going there today and checking it out.

 

[Ragnor]

well, it does look like a mine dump/tailings. Could also have to do with highway construction I suppose. Might be worth swinging a detector over if it's open.

 

[rodoconnor]

Those are dredge tails . Sumter Ore, Snelling and Folsum Kal are also good examples. I hope you find a big 'un

 

[chlsbrns]

You might find some info at:

Washington Mines

 

[OwenT]

I went there today, found gold. Mostly very fine but one piece that was quite unexpectedly large for this river, but still relatively tiny. The dirt I panned was from a hole someone had dug, probably with machinery, and it caught my eye because there was some pretty intense iron staining in that material. It was right next to the tailing piles so I guess it's the fringe of the pay they were working. Those piles are definitely tailings but only about 10 ft wide probably, maybe less. I'm fairly certain this wasn't a normal dredge. Still nothing turning up in my research. I will post some pictures I took when I get around to it.

 

[Aufisher]

Unexpectedly large is good!

 

[OwenT]

Unexpectedly large is good!

True, I just hope I can find enough of it to make it worth working. It's probably the closest place to home I've found gold. Even in my own county! And probably one of the only places in the whole county where there is gold.

 

[DizzyDigger]

Owen, you're over near the palouse country? If so, that was sculpted
by a farm tractor a long time ago, and used for growing hops.

 

[OwenT]

It's definitely connected to the gold. Chinaman's Bar is listed as being nearby so I wonder if whoever was reporting didn't know the real location. Some parts of the location descriptions match up, some parts don't. Unfortunately nobody ever said which side of the river which would've helped a lot. Anyway, there's gold there.

 

[et1955]

Have you tested a place called Vulcan yet ?

 

[OwenT]

I found a Vulcan mine in Stevens County on the records. I wasn't aware of it but I'm glad I am now because it looks like some nice azurite has come out of there! If you are referencing a gold area I'm not familiar with it.

 

[et1955]

Vulcan is down river of the Rock Island Dam on the Columbia, always wanted to test it. Look for the huge bend in the river, there is also a Quarry there.

 

[Goldwasher]

Doest look like they were floating whatever it was ....but it could be a doodlebug with a small floating plant.... a small moving washplant....munchin on one end and dropping little doodle piles out the backside....or a small moving "dryland Dredge.
They would use doodle bugs in areas they couldn't float a big dredge. Is the bedrock shallow?

that would be my guess. If you can figure out the years it was worked you should be able to find a report. It may have a description of the equipment used. I'm not all that familiar with Wa. dredging but, I imagine that sight was worked during the '30's.

Sometimes the report mentions where the company/dredge/plant was previouslly. If you have access to that sight to you can see the tailings there and verify size of the plant. Heck if you knew what they were losing in one place you could have insight on other spots.
The majority of small dredge areas end up getting flattened and regrown pretty quickly. Thats why we see more of the large fields left. I'd say that was a lot of ground for a small machine to work and should have affected the recovery quite a bit.

Once you have a company name you could go to the library local to the digs and find old pictures of it on microfische....sometimes on google if the library is digitizing.
Mining was looked at more positively back then and more pictures were taken than people realize. Hunting them down in archives is fun. And informative

 

[Goldwasher]

If anything I think you can tell what side of the river to work cosidering it is a known gold holding stretch of the river.

 

[Goldwasher]

this video was posted before. these ops are on what would be small rivers compared to the Columbia. Shallower bedrock. Narrower canyons but flood plains down where they meet the valley.

 

[Goldwasher]

http://lh3.ggpht.com/-pc30PIhtMq4/TWa7z7VBHLI/AAAAAAAAAf0/XAcdvQZaUP0/old_dredge_destroyed.jpg this cool little guy isn't technically a doodlebug because it feeds itself....it would have small taling piles like in your pictur. Notice it is in a Northestern environment...looks like the Yukon maybe B.C....still kinda local to Wa. though

 

[chlsbrns]

The mounds are the soil that was excavated from when the dam was built. 1956-1959
You can see the tire tracks going from the dam to the piles in historic aerial photos.

http://www.grantpud.org/your-pud/what-is-a-pud/history-of-grant-county-pud

 

[Goldwasher]

I went there today, found gold. Mostly very fine but one piece that was quite unexpectedly large for this river, but still relatively tiny. The dirt I panned was from a hole someone had dug, probably with machinery, and it caught my eye because there was some pretty intense iron staining in that material. It was right next to the tailing piles so I guess it's the fringe of the pay they were working. Those piles are definitely tailings but only about 10 ft wide probably, maybe less. I'm fairly certain this wasn't a normal dredge. Still nothing turning up in my research. I will post some pictures I took when I get around to it.

so they are piles of gravels that seem to have been washed and restacked?