The Gilded Couple (The Gilded Lens) - A golden journey.

[mikep691]

Old 40 between Donner Lake and Donner Summit. First thought? Gee, I wonder if there's any gold in there. Love driving this road though, just not when it's icy.

That's kind of high up for gold, but not unheard of. Soda Springs road turns to dirt then back to pavement when it becomes Foresthill divide road. Not a drive for the winter, and the weak. A lot of old hydraulic mining took place through here back in the day. If you choose to take the journey, always pack prepared for the worst. I'd much rather unpack a load of stuff than find out later I didn't bring the stuff to stay alive. Source cold can be anywhere and at any elevation. Flood gold (like what most people get in the AR drainage) is hard to pin point. Blue clay is a definite sign of silver. Gold was a co-product of the silver mines, as well as the many copper mines in the Northeast part of the state. If you find one of these three, it's likely one or both of the other are present as well.

I get a lot of reddish tarnished gold (as well as mercury coated), mostly because of the high copper content of my area. Also when you pan and have lots of larger black rocks, take some time to look closely at them before you push over the edge. sometimes these can be what's called a black nugget. Heavy black tarnish on gold. I have a very small black nugget and a piece of quartz with a tiny gold vein through it that I call my beer nuggets.

The first year working our claim, we used classifiers and sluices. Our policy was there had to be gold in the pan before we could have a beer. Well, I was thirsty at 8am, and scooped some of that classified material into my pan and went at it. Those two gems were in that pan and they surely would have passed through the sluice. A few minutes later, Rockguy returned and I'm sitting drinking a beer.... He says "Lets see it". It was game on from then on.

 

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[The Gilded Lens]

That's kind of high up for gold, but not unheard of. Soda Springs road turns to dirt then back to pavement when it becomes Foresthill divide road. Not a drive for the winter, and the weak. A lot of old hydraulic mining took place through here back in the day. If you choose to take the journey, always pack prepared for the worst. I'd much rather unpack a load of stuff than find out later I didn't bring the stuff to stay alive. Source cold can be anywhere and at any elevation. Flood gold (like what most people get in the AR drainage) is hard to pin point. Blue clay is a definite sign of silver. Gold was a co-product of the silver mines, as well as the many copper mines in the Northeast part of the state. If you find one of these three, it's likely one or both of the other are present as well.

I get a lot of reddish tarnished gold (as well as mercury coated), mostly because of the high copper content of my area. Also when you pan and have lots of larger black rocks, take some time to look closely at them before you push over the edge. sometimes these can be what's called a black nugget. Heavy black tarnish on gold. I have a very small black nugget and a piece of quartz with a tiny gold vein through it that I call my beer nuggets.

The first year working our claim, we used classifiers and sluices. Our policy was there had to be gold in the pan before we could have a beer. Well, I was thirsty at 8am, and scooped some of that classified material into my pan and went at it. Those two gems were in that pan and they surely would have passed through the sluice. A few minutes later, Rockguy returned and I'm sitting drinking a beer.... He says "Lets see it". It was game on from then on.

Took me a minute to figure out what we were talking about, lol! Yeah, that is high for gold. Love backpacking and hiking up that way, but have never tried prospecting that far up.

Great info! Didn't know about the connection between blue clay and silver. I've heard of black nuggets, but only seen photos. I don't think they are common in my area.

 

[mikep691]

Took me a minute to figure out what we were talking about, lol! Yeah, that is high for gold. Love backpacking and hiking up that way, but have never tried prospecting that far up.

Great info! Didn't know about the connection between blue clay and silver. I've heard of black nuggets, but only seen photos. I don't think they are common in my area.

I was reading through your journal last nigh and kind of mixed in a couple thoughts into one post from other's responses. Pretty sure the Yuba drainage has a variety of minerals, and finding a black nugget is by chance as finding any gold is. Just saying you have to keep it in the back of your mind and be aware of that possibility whenever you're digging. Those larger black rocks that just won't blow out of your pan need a second look.

 

[The Gilded Lens]

Went prospecting for the moon last night. Got some okay shots with my 70-300mm.







And here's my inner geek showing:





Need to get back in the water and find me some gold!

 

[GoldpannerDave]

Went prospecting for the moon last night. Got some okay shots with my 70-300mm.

View attachment 1216700

View attachment 1216701

View attachment 1216702

And here's my inner geek showing:
View attachment 1216703


Need to get back in the water and find me some gold!

I really liked your pictures and showed them to my chemistry class here at the Air Force Academy today. Thanks.

 

[The Gilded Lens]

Still haven't had time to get outside and get the gold. Sigh. In he meantime though, Mr. Gilded scored an awesome find at a thrift store! Can't beat the price of $1.

 

[mytimetoshine]

Cool. Care to share what's inside?

 

[The Gilded Lens]

Cool. Care to share what's inside?

So far like a lot of historical data and info on the different areas. I've read a few pages into the section in my county. Pretty interesting. There's a big, folded map in the back that I have yet to open.

 

[KevinInColorado]

So far like a lot of historical data and info on the different areas. I've read a few pages into the section in my county. Pretty interesting. There's a big, folded map in the back that I have yet to open.

I seem to remember those maps being worth quite a bit. Treat your find gently until you can confirm its value

 

[The Gilded Lens]

Oh the map is beautiful! This is the top half. Massive! All the dots are different districts.



Will do fore sure, Kevin! Although the I'm also not opposed to framing it.

 

[The Gilded Lens]

Found the 1976 version of the map that's digitized.

http://www.westernmininghistory.com/articles/206/page1

 

[The Gilded Lens]

Mr. Gilded came home with another cool book.

 

[mytimetoshine]

Nice finds! Thanks for sharing!

 

[arizau]

My father worked at the Empire and or the Idaho-Maryland before the war. He moved from New Mexico to Nevada City along with his father, uncle, 3 brothers and 2 of his sisters during the later stages of the depression. Those mines reopened after the war but by that time my family had moved back to New Mexico where my dad worked underground in a Potash mine until his retirement. All the rest of the family stayed in California except one of my uncles who was captured on Bataan, survived the Death March, and was lost when the unmarked prison ship he was on was sunk by a U.S. submarine. One of my good friends father was one of 7 who survived the sinking and the war.

 

[The Gilded Lens]

My father worked at the Empire and or the Idaho-Maryland before the war. He moved from New Mexico to Nevada City along with his father, uncle, 4 brothers and 2 of his sisters during the later stages of the depression. Those mines reopened after the war but by that time my family had moved back to New Mexico where my dad worked underground in a Potash mine until his retirement. All the rest of the family stayed in California except one of my uncles who was captured on Bataan, survived the Death March, and was lost when the unmarked prison ship he was on was sunk by a U.S. submarine. One of my good friends father was one of 7 who survived the sinking and the war.

Thanks for sharing. I love the Empire and it will always have a place in my heart. I bet he had some amazing stories!

 

[The Gilded Lens]

A friend let us borrow and old Whites Gold Master 2. First time I've ever held a detector (FINALLY!) and goofed around with it. I know I didn't have it set up right, but I found a piece of old bent up rebar and a chunk of slag out in the yard with my headlamp in the dark. LOL.

 

[The Gilded Lens]

Went out in the yard inbetween the rain with the old detector. Little more comfortable with it now. Wish it told you if you found crapola or good stuff. (It
Kinda does?) Also wish it had a depth indicator. I can see why pinpointer are all the rage now!

Found a lot of junk.


Also found a bottle cap, an old nut, nails, barbed wire, a washer, and lead.

 

[goldenmojo]

Your a shoe in for the detecting award.....

 

[The Gilded Lens]

Your a shoe in for the detecting award.....

Lol! I was like what? That's what I get for searching next to the hitching post. But hey, I figured that horse might have had a rider that could have lost some shiny.

 

[The Gilded Lens]

Mr. Gilded and I had the pleasure of meeting up with Goldenmojo today and getting into some gold. Felt great to get back out there! Great mini-hike in our neck of the woods and it didn't start raining til after we were settled in. Beautiful scenery, rain showers, good company and some gold, what more could a girl want?

My take for the day:


Mr. Gilded's take:

He scored a sweet little picker!

Not sure what this is, was down under the black sand. Doesn't look like gold but it's not a solid color and doesn't really look brassy like pyrite. Need to take macro shots of it.


Here's my little diggins. Thanks, Goldenmojo, for the tips on reading the river!