Colorado Prospecting. South Platte, Clear Creek and Denver.

[tamrock]

First time I came on to this post researching something else. Where'd Keven the front range metro miner move off to? Also keep up the post on finding gold in Colorado. I enjoy reading them. Good Luck

 

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[shofs]

Last few definitely better than the first few so you're doing something right!!

I expect to be in town the first week of July, I'll definitely bring a sluice and reach out to you!!

Please do! I await your arrival, I'm excited.

 

[shofs]

First time I came on to this post researching something else. Where'd Keven the front range metro miner move off to? Also keep up the post on finding gold in Colorado. I enjoy reading them. Good Luck

Kevin retired up to the mountains and I'm sure he has more details on the subject. If there's any questions I can help answer feel free to ask and I'll answer best I can, even though I'm relatively young at 25 I've done my research quite bit

 

[tamrock]

Kevin retired up to the mountains and I'm sure he has more details on the subject. If there's any questions I can help answer feel free to ask and I'll answer best I can, even though I'm relatively young at 25 I've done my research quite bit

The sooner you start the better. It's so interesting to see Kevin work the ground around the front range. I lived a short walk from the Arkansas river in Buena Vista and would sift gold as much as I could back then up and around that area. At 21 I was a hard rock miner and have been selling the stuff needed for that for function a long time now. So much so I'm looking down the road to retirement here in less then 8 years I'm thinking?. I never found a fortune in gold back then, but I did find a fortune in the natural beauty of the rocky mountains which I'll be spending most of my time in when I do retire. This was me in my early 20's when I was up in Leadville in the late 70's early 80's. I always had cash in the pocket to blow on wine, women and song and that was kind of dumb when I should have put all the money I could into Apple stock. Still the memories of those days are priceless.

 

[HardHatMatt]

^ too cool!

 

[shofs]

I always had cash in the pocket to blow on wine, women and song and that was kind of dumb when I should have put all the money I could into Apple stock. Still the memories of those days are priceless.

I agree there. Experiences are some of the most sound investments one can make. For myself, the one thing I really really love, is discovery. Finding a fascinating spot in nature, finding the hidden amongst the mundane. Having research, knowledge and the drive to get out there... and best of all come back victorious. I can find all the gold and silver I want practically for free any thrift store, it's a fun hobby that pays for itself and then some, it scratches the itch. But I get more excited about finding .15g of gold in a stream with the sun shining on my back then getting a 6g 14k gold ring for $2 under fluorescent lights. It's like fishing at fish farm pond vs fishing a mountain stream. You will catch the bigger fish at the farm with minimal effort, but making your own path in the wilderness and catching a small fish in the beauty of the outdoors in a spot you found yourself is so much more rewarding. I like to put the "hunt" in treasure hunting.

 

[KevinInColorado]

^^^wild gold rocks!

 

[shofs]

The creek must have had a significant flood recently, when I went out this morning the water had cut the shore quite a bit and deposited new sand bars. Sadly though the top of straw bench now has a good 6 inches of fine blond sand covering the whole thing. Other than that I found a great spot to dig and got picker #2!!!
Its smaller than the first one at .027g and is more of a chunk then a corn flake like the first which is neat. Good cleanout today with .29g total. Also to note I found more ammo than usual today.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Wow, I'm jealous!! You clearly know how to pick the good spots!

...and yes, that creek can really flood. A 3 foot rise is common this time of year, 6 foot happens at least annually and I saw 8 foot (!!) a bit down stream in 2013.

 

[tamrock]

I agree there. Experiences are some of the most sound investments one can make. For myself, the one thing I really really love, is discovery. Finding a fascinating spot in nature, finding the hidden amongst the mundane. Having research, knowledge and the drive to get out there... and best of all come back victorious. I can find all the gold and silver I want practically for free any thrift store, it's a fun hobby that pays for itself and then some, it scratches the itch. But I get more excited about finding .15g of gold in a stream with the sun shining on my back then getting a 6g 14k gold ring for $2 under fluorescent lights. It's like fishing at fish farm pond vs fishing a mountain stream. You will catch the bigger fish at the farm with minimal effort, but making your own path in the wilderness and catching a small fish in the beauty of the outdoors in a spot you found yourself is so much more rewarding. I like to put the "hunt" in treasure hunting.

I hear ya . I so much loved being a miner and living in the wilderness when I was in my twenties and was sure I would never have a wanted to do anything else back then, but I was tagged a radical in the industry, so I could only do the next best thing and reinvent myself. Now looking back at 30 years of mining the miners, I just can't see going back to where it all began and making a living that way. Funny how it is your outlook on things changes with time. Oh! buy the way if you see anymore 6 gram gold rings under those fluorescent lights for 2 bucks and it just ain't your fancy, please give me a heads up on that, cuz I just may be interested in it.

 

[shofs]

I hear ya . I so much loved being a miner and living in the wilderness when I was in my twenties and was sure I would never have a wanted to do anything else back then, but I was tagged a radical in the industry, so I could only do the next best thing and reinvent myself. Now looking back at 30 years of mining the miners, I just can't see going back to where it all began and making a living that way. Funny how it is your outlook on things changes with time. Oh! buy the way if you see anymore 6 gram gold rings under those fluorescent lights for 2 bucks and it just ain't your fancy, please give me a heads up on that, cuz I just may be interested in it.

I love treasure in all forms rest assured. I still go out for man made treasure as much as the natural but I don't post my findings on this forum. Here is a link to a summary of myself and what I do. This was 3 years ago though and its a bit dated but check it out ->CLICK HERE

If you want to find treasure in the suburbs you only need 4 things
1) Neodymium ring: Precious metals are all non-magnetic. Wear this and tell a fake just by holding it.
2) A 365nm UV light: Invisible light to human eyes but will reviel real vs fake diamonds/gems/pearl/opal ect and make them glow even through glass displays.
3) An at home gold and silver test kit.
4) Learn other countries hallmarks

Good Luck

 

[shofs]

Wow, I'm jealous!! You clearly know how to pick the good spots!

...and yes, that creek can really flood. A 3 foot rise is common this time of year, 6 foot happens at least annually and I saw 8 foot (!!) a bit down stream in 2013.

Interestingly the spot I dug was the tailings down off the old straw bench dam. I thought it would be a good idea because it looked like the flood water had washed along the top of the bench maybe redepositing some gold at the drop at the end. A few test pans to zero in on the gold line and bingo! Right off the drop and hugging the left side. The really surprising thing to me was that the creek had flooded/ moved so much and gone back to normal flow all within 48 hours. Pretty magical to refill a dug out spot so quick and rich! This creek will be fun for years I don't see it running out anytime soon.

 

[shofs]

Nice digging! I'll be digging all winter down there, so I'm sure we will rip it up!

I just finished reading your thread as a whole. Dude you really know how to work the dirt you are crazy. I have so, so many many good undug spots on the Platte that I've only gone surface layer deep in testing. Your knowledge with the Platte's gravel layers plus my spots will = ! Coming this winter!

 

[mytimetoshine]

Shofs, I used to do coin roll hunting errrrrr culling Silver also. That's what lead me to gold mining!

 

[shofs]

Had a fun day out. I went to check out a completely different creek I've been itching to test, but haven't yet because of the current honey hole I've been digging. This creek is only 5 min from my house and in a residential area, but the paths stay a good 50 feet from it and it's some thick brush plus no trails to get down to it. I saw a spot on maps that showed a cut out area with some big rocks so it was time to explore! Its pretty much a no named creek with absolutely no prospecting history.

When I first got down to the water. No signs of any human visitors. In order to get to the mapped spot I had to find access a bit upstream since the creek had cut canyon edges.


Wow! Wheres all the gravel? No gravel at all. All clay, how strange. Neat though.


Further down and the creek is still all clay, but now it is almost rock hard and gray in color.



Arrived at my mapped spot and yay a gravel bar! And yay large round rocks!
I only packed my light test pan/exploration kit and didn't have a shovel. But I test panned around the gravel bar found some color!


Ran about 4 gallons of material with a trovel before the wife called me back for dinner. Not a bad cleanout considering! Very promising creek!
Can't wait to come back, run a good yard or so and see if it can stack up to the other creek

 

[brianc053]

Shofs, that looks like an interesting spot, and that's a good amount of gold for just sampling!
Was the clay hard enough that there were cracks and crevices that could be sniped/creviced with proper tools?

- Brian

 

[GrizzlyGremlin]

I just finished reading your thread as a whole. Dude you really know how to work the dirt you are crazy. I have so, so many many good undug spots on the Platte that I've only gone surface layer deep in testing. Your knowledge with the Platte's gravel layers plus my spots will = ! Coming this winter!

Thanks man, this could be my last winter in CO so let's dig the living snot rockets out of this place!

 

[shofs]

Shofs, that looks like an interesting spot, and that's a good amount of gold for just sampling!
Was the clay hard enough that there were cracks and crevices that could be sniped/creviced with proper tools?ices there
- Brian

I wasn't really checking for crevices but there was quite a few small "bowls" that had collected gravel. I tested quite a few with no luck but there is certainly a possibility of crevicing this creek. It's very much unlike any other creek I've tested in Denver.

 

[KevinInColorado]

There will only be significant gold downstream from the point where it cuts through that Castlerock Formation layer. Find that area, find your next honey hole!

 

[shofs]

Visit #2 to what I'm calling "clay creek". It was really hot in denver today 90+ degrees out. I ran some test pans along the whole stretch again because I just couldn't resist. I brought my shovel this time and wanted to really get a feel for the creek before I started to dig. I tested some holes in the hard clay where gravel had settled but with no luck.


I ended up in this narrow spot upstream of where I wanted to dig just to escape the sun for a little. Ran about 5 gallons of material. There was gold... but not as good as the gravel bar downstream.


It was the afternoon so when it finally cooled off I went to the spot where I got my best test pans, made a dam and ran about 12 gallons of material right from the middle of the gravel bar.


Not to bad! Cleanout of .09g