Colorado Prospecting. South Platte, Clear Creek and Denver.

[shofs]

So here is the comparison of 12 gallons of "straw bench creek" top soil from back in May vs 16 gallons of "clay creek" gravel from today. Not too bad I guess. I feel like "clay creek" might have some hidden honey somewhere maybe...

 

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[KevinInColorado]

Very encouraging...keep sniffing around there

 

[shofs]

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!

I've been thinking and it's just a hypothesis... but there's something I'm now on the hunt for. Clay Creek cuts down through the Castle rock formation. I can see the layer displayed clearly in the high cliff walls just as it does on the the downstream end of Straw Creek. The honey hole at Straw Creek seems to be flowing right on the Castle Rock formation layer. Not cut through it but literally flowing right on the layer. So far the only spots I've been after are the ones showing the deepest cuts. I've gotten plenty of small gold, but in order to find the larger flakes I think I need to switch gears and try finding a spot that flows right along that golden layer. Not to high and not too low. The hunt is on!

 

[mytimetoshine]

Very encouraging...keep sniffing around there

sniff. sniff sniff...

 

[shofs]

This morning I tried out a different 3rd different creek that looked promising and potentially running on the castlerock formation layer. It runs in parallel with "straw" and "clay" creek but is closer to straw creek.

Arriving at the creek


Checking out the creek wall, looking for the Castle Rock layer.


This could be it. Close to water level too. Should be some larger cobble around the corner then.


There we go! Large cobble everywhere laying on clay. Just what I was looking for.


But...I test panned everywhere and very, very little gold. Maybe 1 to none color per pan. Same looking black sand, garnet, quartz and everything just missing the gold
Surprised at the results but it was fun to look

 

[RookmanGold]

Just read about your last couple of trips... isnt it great just to be exploring and testing and finding and learning... topped off by some nice gold at the end 🙂

 

[mytimetoshine]

Shofs, your prospecting and Mining tenacity has been really strong so far. I like how your using maps and findng access. There really is a lot of ground out there if your willing to study the maps as well as claimed areas and MOST important have the physicality to make it in and of course BACK OUT.Private property and difficulty of terrain are the 2 biggest hurdles. Personally what I do is look or any area I can identify a clear trail dirt rd from google maps. Then overlay my land matters for claims. Lastly is the private property. I'm not sure where to go for the best info/maps when it comes to that but I just look for houses/structures. If there are none close by your most likely ok. Next is signs and fences... None? Mission Is a go tower, I repeat mission is s a go tower. Do you copy?

 

[KevinInColorado]

Shofs, your prospecting and Mining tenacity has been really strong so far. I like how your using maps and findng access. There really is a lot of ground out there if your willing to study the maps as well as claimed areas and MOST important have the physicality to make it in and of course BACK OUT.Private property and difficulty of terrain are the 2 biggest hurdles. Personally what I do is look or any area I can identify a clear trail dirt rd from google maps. Then overlay my land matters for claims. Lastly is the private property. I'm not sure where to go for the best info/maps when it comes to that but I just look for houses/structures. If there are none close by your most likely ok. Next is signs and fences... None? Mission Is a go tower, I repeat mission is s a go tower. Do you copy?

To identify private property (and get owner contact info) go to the local county assessor website. The property boundaries there are not always exact but it'll show you who is paying property tax for what piece of ground and what is public land. Keep in mind that anything which shows as "not a property" is owned by the county.

shofs...good work prospecting. Results are somewhat unpredictable due to variations in...everything! Try further downstream

 

[shofs]

Shofs, your prospecting and Mining tenacity has been really strong so far. I like how your using maps and findng access. There really is a lot of ground out there if your willing to study the maps as well as claimed areas and MOST important have the physicality to make it in and of course BACK OUT.Private property and difficulty of terrain are the 2 biggest hurdles. Personally what I do is look or any area I can identify a clear trail dirt rd from google maps. Then overlay my land matters for claims. Lastly is the private property. I'm not sure where to go for the best info/maps when it comes to that but I just look for houses/structures. If there are none close by your most likely ok. Next is signs and fences... None? Mission Is a go tower, I repeat mission is s a go tower. Do you copy?

Blazing a trail through the bush is one of my favorite things to do! I can be in the middle of the city but 100' of bushwhacking later and I'm surrounded by hidden wilderness with the sounds of the city replaced with the sounds of nature. Denver offers some pretty unique opportunities. The cherry on top is nearly all the areas I'm accessing are owned by Parks and Rec or city public space, which allow prospecting to a degree. To quote Kevin "If the cut grass doesn't reach the creek it's probably ok to dig".

When it comes to maps, Google Earth's terrain accuracy is priceless. Added with the historical mapping data included with the program = a good head start if you know what you're looking for

 

[shofs]

To identify private property (and get owner contact info) go to the local county assessor website. The property boundaries there are not always exact but it'll show you who is paying property tax for what piece of ground and what is public land. Keep in mind that anything which shows as "not a property" is owned by the county.

shofs...good work prospecting. Results are somewhat unpredictable due to variations in...everything! Try further downstream

Wise words from the master! I proclaim you the official Gouriou of Gold! There was gold at the last location it just seemed to be spread over a wide area. I'm certain if I had set the bazooka up and ran some material I would have had a small amount to show. I agree through, downstream I see some spots that might condense the gold line and give a nice dig!

 

[shofs]

Update!: I just finalized on buying a house in South Denver. Moving out of an apartment with my wife. Its only a 4 min drive from my current place so my prospecting area will remain the same! Though I might be posting a bit slower as the chores of moving begin.

On another note, I took my Dad out mountain stream fishing for father's day, but... we just had to make a pit stop at straw creek. He's an avid naturalist and I love getting together with him but he lives a few towns away so we don't get to hangout as much as I'd like. We had a great time. I flipped a bucket and had him sit at the bazooka and clear the grizzlies as I shoveled. He watched the gold crawl down the top plate and helped me aim where the hotter shovel fulls were coming from. It was a good system! Stayed for about an hour. I brought my finishing gear and filled a little glass vial with the days cleanout to give to him to take home. Fun time for the both of us!
Here's a pic of the gold he got. No dime for scale this time since it was processed at the site but I would estimate around .20g.

 

[shofs]

I also snuck out to straw creek for about 1.5 hours before work today. Just couldn't resist. The creek was running very low, cutting through the lighter overburden gravel in new paths a good 6 inches deep or so. Down to the larger rocks and cobble. It revealed a few new spots to dig that normally I would ignore. I set up a new dam upstream of straw bench and because of the new cut of the water I was digging the outside curve of a bend! It felt so very wrong! But test pans told me to dig there and so I did. Interesting results! Not much large sized gold and no sign of the usual pellets and ammo, but a nice and heavy .27g in 1.5 hours with smaller gold! Awesome

 

[KevinInColorado]

Love that pic...You make me proud!

 

[shofs]

I got off work early today and with the overcast skies blocking the unusually hot sun Denver's been experiencing recently, I just had to make a pit stop at the creek on the way home. Set the zooka up in 5 minutes on my prebuilt dam and got to shoveling for a solid 45 min in the same spot as last time. Again lots of small gold, not much larger pieces but still a great dig! Cleanout at .24g!



Here's the gold bunched up ready to go into the vial

 

[mytimetoshine]

1/4 g per hour! nice

 

[shofs]

1/4 g per hour! nice

I'm off work today and I'm really close to packing a lunch and trying a 4 hour dig to see if I can get that gram in a day goal! The only thing holding me back is the crazy heat Denver's having being 90+ outside.

 

[shofs]

Alright! Sunny skys just turned overcast so I'm heading out despite the heat. Ill probably get in a good 2 hour dig today, lets hope for that half gram! I also wanted to try emptying my bazooka more often and see how that compares to my usual "don't empty till its time to go home" routine. The spot I'm currently digging should produce the same amount of gold as my last two digs, lots of smaller gold with spotty larger pieces. Be right back with the clean out in a few hours

 

[mytimetoshine]

I'm off work today and I'm really close to packing a lunch and trying a 4 hour dig to see if I can get that gram in a day goal! The only thing holding me back is the crazy heat Denver's having being 90+ outside.

Only 90's? .... no complaints unless it's 103 or above. lol don't let a little sunshine keep you from getting that gram!. hat,sunscreen and plenty of water you can cross a desert. well maybe not a desert. lol

 

[shofs]

Got a good 2.5 hours of digging in. I wanted to experiment this time with emptying the bazooka every 30 minutes compared to once per trip.
and the results are in..... NOT WORTH IT
Which is definitely the better of the two possibilities.
I cleaned it out 5 times which meant 5 times the amount of black sand I had to take home and process. Also the time resetting the bazooka could have been spent shoveling. Weight today was .19g.



Here is my last setup of the bazooka running just how I like it. Thick water flow with the "v" in the middle of the sluice bed. Also the end of the sluice is above water level so no build up occurs.



Here's the fluid bed full of black sand after just a couple of shovel fulls. But don't let it fool you there's no need to empty it.

 

[HMiller]

I've wondered that about the cleanup as well. Thanks for testing that theory. Less to bring home now.