School is back in... Time to work!!!!!

[goldenIrishman]

Pretty good trip this weekend.

Well we made it out the the claim and got some digging done. I had hoped to head out Friday evening but we just couldn't manage it. Left out from the house about 07:30 Saturday and we were at Kentucky Camps upper gate waiting for Garret to meet up with us by 09:30. Garret and his crew showed up and I guided them into the claim. At one point Robi was wondering if they were thinking "Where the heck are they going?".

We made it out to the claim and did full introductions. With Garret was his buddy Dan and his youngest son Thomas. I proceeded to give them the Nickle Tour of the digs so they'd know the boundaries of the claim and made a couple of suggestions on places to dig. They decided to go work a small wash that comes down from the lode claim that is above our claim and empties into the main wash that goes through the middle of the claim.

While they were working there, Robi and I went back to working the main wash. First thing on the hit parade was the moving of a small boulder that Robi wanted to dig under. I lucked out that it wasn't so big that I'd need a crane to move it and it was soon out of the way. We started classifying materials and that stuff from under and in front of that boulder sure looked good! We continued working upstream, moving rocks and cleaning out cracks as best we could. With all the rock in the wash it was not easy digging and by the time the sun was getting low and we decided that we needed to get camp set up we had dug, classified and hauled 30 gallons worth of materials.

We got to setting up the tent and it didn't take long before we had everything ready for the night. We got the fire started and we all sat around swapping tall tales for awhile. Robi decided to call it a night about 8ish so Garret and I were talking about this that and the other thing till about midnight.

We all got up the next morning and started hitting it hard. Robi wanted to get headed home about noon so she could get some things done for work but I convinced her to hang on out there till about 2 so I could finish up more materials and get them loaded into the truck. As it was, I managed to get another 50 gallons dug, classified and hauled to the truck before we left. At one point Robi decided to head back up to the camp and start getting it broke down while Thomas and I finished filling the buckets.

In the meantime, Garret was running his re-circ sluice and finding some fines and a few larger pieces from their test holes. On Saturday they had found several nice little pieces but wanted to test out some of the "Coyote holes". They decided that their first place had been more productive and so they started digging back there and loading some materials "to go". So they had managed to run between 10 and 15 gallons through the sluice and had loaded up about 20 or so to take home. (Don't quote me on those numbers as I'm still working on my coffee! )

All and all it was a good trip and it was nice to be able to meet up with Garret, Dan and Thomas and get to know them a little. Robi and I were able to get a full 80 gallons worth of materials back to the homestead and as soon as I finish up this report and my morning coffee I'll be heading out to the processing area and start running all the materials through the highbanker. I need to get moving so my body will loosen back up and MAYBE I won't be feeling so much like road kill here. Man I am hurting right now.......

 

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[Sample Pan Dan]

I bet you're hurting. That's a lot of digging in a short trip. Keep us posted on the results.

 

[Jeff95531]

Hey Jeff. I thought it was next weekend you were going. I'll give ya a call later. Oh, and here's something for the back of your t shirt you're developing.

 

[GarretDiggingAz]

Well we made it out the the claim and got some digging done. I had hoped to head out Friday evening but we just couldn't manage it. Left out from the house about 07:30 Saturday and we were at Kentucky Camps upper gate waiting for Garret to meet up with us by 09:30. Garret and his crew showed up and I guided them into the claim. At one point Robi was wondering if they were thinking "Where the heck are they going?". We made it out to the claim and did full introductions. With Garret was his buddy Dan and his youngest son Thomas. I proceeded to give them the Nickle Tour of the digs so they'd know the boundaries of the claim and made a couple of suggestions on places to dig. They decided to go work a small wash that comes down from the lode claim that is above our claim and empties into the main wash that goes through the middle of the claim. While they were working there, Robi and I went back to working the main wash. First thing on the hit parade was the moving of a small boulder that Robi wanted to dig under. I lucked out that it wasn't so big that I'd need a crane to move it and it was soon out of the way. We started classifying materials and that stuff from under and in front of that boulder sure looked good! We continued working upstream, moving rocks and cleaning out cracks as best we could. With all the rock in the wash it was not easy digging and by the time the sun was getting low and we decided that we needed to get camp set up we had dug, classified and hauled 30 gallons worth of materials. We got to setting up the tent and it didn't take long before we had everything ready for the night. We got the fire started and we all sat around swapping tall tales for awhile. Robi decided to call it a night about 8ish so Garret and I were talking about this that and the other thing till about midnight. We all got up the next morning and started hitting it hard. Robi wanted to get headed home about noon so she could get some things done for work but I convinced her to hang on out there till about 2 so I could finish up more materials and get them loaded into the truck. As it was, I managed to get another 50 gallons dug, classified and hauled to the truck before we left. At one point Robi decided to head back up to the camp and start getting it broke down while Thomas and I finished filling the buckets. In the meantime, Garret was running his re-circ sluice and finding some fines and a few larger pieces from their test holes. On Saturday they had found several nice little pieces but wanted to test out some of the "Coyote holes". They decided that their first place had been more productive and so they started digging back there and loading some materials "to go". So they had managed to run between 10 and 15 gallons through the sluice and had loaded up about 20 or so to take home. (Don't quote me on those numbers as I'm still working on my coffee! ) All and all it was a good trip and it was nice to be able to meet up with Garret, Dan and Thomas and get to know them a little. Robi and I were able to get a full 80 gallons worth of materials back to the homestead and as soon as I finish up this report and my morning coffee I'll be heading out to the processing area and start running all the materials through the highbanker. I need to get moving so my body will loosen back up and MAYBE I won't be feeling so much like road kill here. Man I am hurting right now.......

Thanks Jeff for having us out there. Thomas had a blast. He even told me about leaverite. Lol. He thought that was funny. I know he enjoyed being there. Dan and me sure enjoyed that as well. Though I will say that it was definitely a bigger workout than usual where I dig I enjoyed the area for the scenery and material.
I can definitely say that the material I ran, sure sucked up the water. The only reason why I ran only the small amount in the sluice was because of me not wanting to keep hauling water. Plus I knew what was in the dirt.
That coyote hole had a top layer that was full of decomposed material and it was very light material and I didn't expect much from the three gallons I ran. I didn't dig the material, and I would've got the material closer to the regular material around there. Surprisingly I did get a couple of small specs in there. Probably blown by the wind. They were microscopic.
That wash was the fun part. I finally was able to pull out my small dental pics and put them to use. Not on myself of course, but to pic through some crevices. I swear I saw some shine at me. Small as well. That mud/clay is a bear. I'm taking all those clay balls and soaking them. I sure wish my hip and left side were better. I'd got more material out. Next trip I think I'll be better equipped to run and get material. At least as far as water distance to the sluice. Maybe I'll get a pump that can pull from tub to sluice. It hurts enough to just run the sluice, but to have to go back to the truck and haul the water would be too much. I'm already planning a way to haul the buckets without having to carry them uphill. Now that I've got a lay of the land.
Next time I'm hoping to tour other areas. For now, I'll play with what little I got for the testing of the finger wash and let you know what comes out.
Once again, thanks. We definitely look forward to it again. Next time I'll bring my older boys to take and dig. They're like mini bulldozers. Lol. Plus I'll probably hit that hole again to test it properly.

 

[goldenIrishman]

Glad you guys had a good time out there man! I've been finding some nice chunky little pieces so far and a couple of fines as well. On the clay balls you can do what Keith dos and soak them in a bucket for awhile then hit them with a paint mixer to break them up. Works great! A couple of mini dozers sounds like the ticket to me. Let's just make sure that they work smart so they don't end up feeling like us when they hit the same age.

I managed to get 20 gallons run so far but there isn't as much in it as I expected. That's the game I guess. Hide and go seek with mother nature.

Grasshopper..... I LIKE IT!!!!! I can see that printed right below the main design on the back of the shirts! I think I'll to the eye test chart on the front.
I
f y
o u c
a n r e
a d t h i s
t h e n y o u
a r e o n o u r c l a i m

It would of course be in the traditional triangle shape.

 

[GarretDiggingAz]

I
FY
OUC
ANRE
ADTHIS
YOUAREO
NOURCLAIM

I like this. Is this a pyramid scam? Lol.

I'm going to reclassify to 1/8" and soak it all. I'm going to see what she holds. I know I saw a couple pieces picking the crevices. Not pickers, but still the size of coarse ground pepper. I'm thinking there's more I couldn't see.
The thing about using that mortar mixer is it could damage a nugget, if it's there. I'd hate to damage one. Lol. I'd tell it that that's what you get for making us work so hard.
I'd do it today, but got other things to do first.

I forgot to mention. If anybody finds a 6 gal light blue water container and a Garrett super sluice along I-10. Let me know. Total blown out from truck was 1/4" classifier, water container, and a gold pan. Ugh....how frustrating it was. Back was so full of our stuff I couldn't see it go. Then again, I was so tired, I probably wouldn't have seen it anyways.
Well I'll go outside and start breaking apart that clay. Picks will be coming probably Thursday.

 

[goldenIrishman]

Been slowly running the materials we brought back and have done half of them so far. Found several sluice box pickers and plenty of course stuff but very few fines. On nugget is about a gram and a half. It don't go "plink" when ya drop it. It goes "THUNK"!!! Will keep plugging away at it and with a little luck I'll find it's big brothers or it's grand dad.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Yowza! Congrats on finding a sweet spot on the claim

 

[Sample Pan Dan]

Sure hope I get to make it out there next month!

 

[goldenIrishman]

Talk about a change of fortune!

Ran 15 gallons today and only found two, yes that's spelled 2 little pieces. I felt like I was digging in Texas or something. Sorry Chris but I'm basing that statement on your reports. I just hope finding that nice nugget yesterday didn't jinx me on the rest of the materials.

I've still got 5 buckets left to run so there's still a chance it will pick back up. One bucket is classified to 1/4 and the last four are classified to 1/2. (I was in a hurry to get back to the house but still wanted to grab more materials)

I really need to go back over the area we've cleared so far with a vacuum and really clean out the cracks good. We've really just been removing overburden for the most part so far but there's been gold in it so I'm not going to whine. (besides... I'm out of cheese to go with it)

I'm also going to try to get a drop riffle sluice set up made as a re-circ system. My old Long Tom is starting to warp and is no longer flat on the bottom. I've got a nice piece of Hemlock sitting here that should make a nice sluice and I'll follow AstroBouncers' how-to video on the cuts but will most likely add a few of my own tricks to it.

Robi is on her way to Chicago for a couple of days so I'm currently a cross between a bachelor and a munchkin wrangler until she gets back Friday evening.

 

[Jeff95531]

GI, you of all people know, gold does that....go read my waterfall story again. I feel your pain. You know it's there and it disappears. And yes, it is a real BB but... but your nugget you found? You know, the one you called me about...priceless!!! So you go back to that location and just like a quarterback...break right, break left, dig down...the AU's just frick'in with you, cuz it does....and it does it to us more often than not!

BTW, I'm going public with my request...........Pictures...Pictures....PICTURES!!! Oh wait, Robi took the camera to Chicago. Damm.

 

[Jeff95531]

oooppps. Duplicate post

 

[GarretDiggingAz]

Tomorrow's coming. Yeah, I get to run the dirt from the spot we dug. Though it's only about 20 gallons. Then I've got that 2-1/2 that was in a spot just above it. That's where I saw some gold smile at me crevicing. Then it disappeared when I tried to get it. I know it's in the clay.
So I'm going to get out the mortar mixer and my drill and soak the dirt and make some grout. Lol. I know the golds in the clay. So are you going to break down or soak the clay balls that don't go through the classifier? I was thinking about that today about my rubble pile. I break up all the clay I can but I know some gets tossed. I'm thinking of taking a bucket of water with to wash my material before I toss into a pile. That way I toss clean rocks only.
Jeff call me tomorrow at some point.

 

[goldenIrishman]

Well because we've been cleaning out the cracks on the bottom of the wash as best as we can. there really hasn't been much if any clay in the materials so far. Now the clay balls from Kentucky Camp are another matter! Those I soaked in a bucket overnight and hit with the mortar mixer. I thinned them down to a nice stew consistency and ladled the slurry into the sluice. After running I checked the tailings and all the rocks were good and clean.

Yeah... I know that the gold will come and go Jeff. That nugget had just gotten me all excited and wanting MORE!!!!! I failed to keep my fever under control. I've still got another 5 buckets of materials to run but at this point I'm trying to decide if I want to put them through the Long Tom which is getting to be in pretty bad condition due to the warp, switch over to the highbanker which is down one pump, or get myself down to the shop and build me up a drop riffle sluice. decisions decisions...... I do know that I'll have the highbanker back up to full strength on the water flow in time for the trip on the 15th, but I'd like to bring the drop riffle unit out too and give it a good field test. I can use some tailings to check how well the materials move through it here at the house.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Jeff, you know better than to run good dirt thru bad equipment. Time to toss the long tom in the fire and move on!

 

[GarretDiggingAz]

How about reversing sides. Flipping it over and refasten the wood. May not work though since the sides are loose. Maybe take some 2x's and screw the wood to them so it'd pull the wood back. Downside is adding more weight. But you can handle it. Lol

 

[GarretDiggingAz]

Jeff
Maybe turn board over and take some 2x's and screw the sides into the 2x to make flat again. Make a little heavier but you can handle it. Lol

 

[goldenIrishman]

Well the sides of the Long Tom were glues and screwed into position so that's not an option. I went ahead and set the highbanker back up with the single pump. It's slow running but at least it is flat and still works. I'm thinking of cutting the L.T. up and giving it a fitting end during the week long outing next month. As soon as I can, I'll be upgrading the pumps on the highbanker to a pair of 2200 gph ones. that will allow me to run more materials at a flatter angle for sure.

To prove the above point, the last bucket I ran yesterday turned out to be one of, if not the best single bucket I have pulled from the Greaterville area! I have two buckets left to run today and if they hold as much gold as that last one, the trip out there this last weekend just might be salvaged. Considering that much of this stuff has been overburden, I can't wait to see what we can pull out of the cracks with a vacuum. Yes Keith.... That's a hint. then again, when Robi gets back from Chicago and sees what we got from the overburden, she just might OK the funds for the parts to make our own. I'm still going to make a drop riffle setup like Astro shows in his video with a couple of additions of my own that I feel should be included to give it a more varied surface to give the gold more options on surfaces.

 

[Jeff95531]

Good to hear Jeff. You got back on the gold and didn't even have to leave the house. I'm thinking there's some stair stepping going on in the wash, depositing in low spots as it works material down. Can't wait to see the totals and weights combined...but I will.
GH

 

[goldenIrishman]

Jeff... If you could see the bottom of this wash I think you'd be drooling over it. Right now the problem is the lack of a vacuum. We've gotten everything we could get with a trowel, but that's just not good enough to get to all the good stuff. Sure... I could bust open the cracks with a hammer and chisel, but I want to keep them intact as much as possible. That way in time they can be reloaded. Some areas we're "improving" by adding small dams to slow the water flow and give the gold places to drop out. We won't know how well or even if they're going to work until the monsoons hit latter this summer. A good enough storm hits and those same rocks could be washed three claims down the hill.

So far we've only rough cleaned about 15 feet of the wash. The entire length of it is aprox 735 feet, so that only leaves 720 feet left to do! If I can get 10 feet done a day once I have a vacuum, it would only take about three months to get it all done. Of course I can't be out there every day so it's most likely going to take a lot longer.

I know that there's going to be both good and bad areas, but I'm positive that the good areas are going to more than make up for the bad ones.