Trip & Results with modification to A52 sluice

[63bkpkr]

Re: Trip & Results with modification to A52 sluice

Thanks for the input Goldtimer. Where are you, that is what country are you in? Where do you prospect at? Any pictures? (of mining that is)

Yes I've a lot to learn but the curve is filling up with information. The country I'm in IS worth being out there, lots of history and I stumble across it all the time. I also stumble across a good number of bears which is why I carry my insurance policy in my left arm pit.

Enjoy the day, 63

 

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[goldtimer]

Re: Trip & Results with modification to A52 sluice

Hi 63, I'm in NZ. I do a bit of prospecting, mostly sniping with a mask and snorkel on a hot day.
I don't take as many pics as I should, when there's gold to be found the camera gets forgotten quickly... LOL
Here's a picture of some gold in the bottom of a crevice. Sorry it's slightly blurred as the water was about 2 foot deep and the camera didn't want to focus properly for me....

Bears don't sound like much fun.... At least here in NZ there's nothing to eat you, bite you, or hurt you when you're out prospecting. That is , as long as you don't fall down a cliff....
Good luck
Cheers

 

[maui]

Re: Trip & Results with modification to A52 sluice

63, wow those pictures are stunning. very, very beautifull country where you are and i am sure that
you will get more of that yellow metal. yep sure does look like bear country but i would love to beable
to spend some time there and poke around.
wishing you the very best and enjoy the beauty.
take care and be safe out there. ron

 

[Goldwasher]

Re: Trip & Results with modification to A52 sluice

very nice territory '63.... here are some things that shold be keeping you up at night now that you can worry less about losing your fines.. ... ... stumble upon history all the time...layin on the ground....... .....im young but first things first about people....if you leave something of actual or percieved value in cash or coolness one of the next, if even very few people to come by is going to SNAG as much if not all of it they can....whether they think its owned or abandoned and no matter how remote... .....you have a gmt...use it look for "camps"....i know your out sluicing but you can find out pretty quick where the guys before you were woking and how and where they were living...and depending on the age of the camp and if its really been detected before you could find a freakin sack of GOLD....you never know. In your pics i'm seeing a 1980 era camp, with that come-along sorta deal and old sluice there the camps are gonna be pretty close to the operation....Next thing to daydream about all that bedrock ....snipe and highgrade that side drainage...with the pool in the pic..bedrock covered in moss....some of the easiest prospecting to do... if you clean out some cracks right on that dry little waterfall. and find color... work up that side drainage if you find gold up that side channel.. above highwater..that side channel is a source you should find an increase in gold below where thad side creek meets the main one .. if the side creek is a source.i see soooooo many cracks you need to clean..you can have one crack smoke a day of sluicing and moving tons of buckets...man those cracks are primary sluice classifier and a good way to get out of diggin and playin with boulders for a while.

 

[kuger]

Re: Trip & Results with modification to A52 sluice

Good job,and nice gold!!I know it has been touched on and some great info has been shared.....but,you should never have to clean up six times a day!!The first mistake I see is your sluice is submerged,that is a no no,it messes with the "action",you should be able to look behind your riffles and see black sand "dancing",that is what you want.As said also you do not have near enough angle there.The most important part of sluicing is having your sluice set right,otherwise your hard work is for not.Keep at it,and stay safe!!!

 

[Hoser John]

Re: Trip & Results with modification to A52 sluice

Trinity Alps are gods country and compared to the Swiss Alps for beauty. I've many photos from a chopper ride looking down on falls exactly the same and the now next to nonexistant glacier---bears are a HUGE pain this year and really makes no sense?? Oh ya they're just trying to evade all the wetbacks working the 1,000's a pot farms blanketing the forests-John

 

[kuger]

Re: Trip & Results with modification to A52 sluice

Trinity Alps are gods country and compared to the Swiss Alps for beauty. I've many photos from a chopper ride looking down on falls exactly the same and the now next to nonexistant glacier---bears are a HUGE pain this year and really makes no sense?? Oh ya they're just trying to evade all the wetbacks working the 1,000's a pot farms blanketing the forests-John

Yea,John,you think the bears are bad now?Wait until the Libs get sport hunting of them stopped.Cali has the highest population in the U.S

 

[AU Seeker]

Re: Trip & Results with modification to A52 sluice

Herb,

Great report, and the pictures are worth 1000s of words, beautiful country!!!

That is some nice gold!!

One thing I always do to keep from losing a lengthy post that I worked hard and long to word just right is to use Microsoft word or similar program to type it and then copy and paste it in the post, and if you lose the text when posting it you can go back to the word doc. and copy it again.

Unless I misread what you wrote, don't go anywhere else until you cover the area you in completely, the gold your finding is not just around the rocks you were working, there is more gold just like your finding up and down that stream!!

When you have your sluice setup properly you will see V patterns on the surface of the water in the sluice, here are a couple of YouTube videos I quickly found so you can see the V patterns I'm referring too, the first video only shows the V pattern at the head of the sluice over the ribbed matting, this guy need to adjust his sluice slightly so that pattern is working down the length of his sluice, the second video is of a LeTrap sluice and this guy has his sluice setup better and you can see the pattern of the V will actually form an X pattern, this is what your looking for when you have your sluice setup well, in my experience the depth of the water running in your sluice can vary slightly without losing gold or getting buildup in your sluice as long as you have a good well defined V/X pattern on the surface of the water.

Skip

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmbWBu63mjk&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MU_low5iNs&feature=related

 

[63bkpkr]

Re: Trip & Results with modification to A52 sluice

Howdy again folks,
I had a side job, you know work, to do so its kept me from responding.

Goldtimer - I've heard New Zeland is a beautiful place and blurred or not I can easily see the gold. I've never run across any just sitting in a
crack like that and if I had I'm sure the picture I would have taken would be blurred as well.

pvillehunter - I've hunted a little for camps, found a couple, found my Best supposed beer bottle (supposed as it has a fully round bottom but brown glass w/bubbles and sweated on final glass rim, lots of hobnailed boots there) and yes the camp('s) near the equipment should be close by the equipment. I'd not hiked near that "side drainage" in many years and had forgotten about it till this year when the equipment on the side hill pulled me out of my camp to take a look see. And yes, the moss, the drain canyon way, the pool, checking all the spots you mentioned would be a worthwhile task and yes it would be better than moving boulders. also a falls down stream with another nice pool and likely more good cracks to check. I'd seen the miner many years ago at his camp on the main river, the moss covered rock/side drainage is on a side stream, and as best as I can recall it was in the late 70's so your 1980 era estimate on the equipment is right there. So many places to check out and only so much time in the summer to do them.

Hoser John & Kuger - Pot Farms, I've never run across any, fortunately, as I carry a sidearm and if I'm fired at I will protect myself. Also met some rescue types in 09, they were out looking for some fella who'd been seduced into free climbing a side canyon and decided to go all the way to the top only to be met by a Manzanita Jungle 7' tall. Seems the fella walked on top of it to get almost all the way across but night fell and he was stranded there overnight w/o any gear. They hauled is butt out of there after he'd been out some 24 hours. He hiked back in the next day, anyway but the rescue types I met told me they've have to be Soooo careful about thinking they are rescuing someone as they could just as easily walk right into a pot farm and get shot. I agree about far too many cleanups, it was driving me nuts. Now that I know about minimum water and a steeper angle and to watch for the dancing black sand I will be far better off. Question, does the black sand have any favorite music it dances to? Yes, I am a smart ***!

AU Seeker - Thank you for the heads up on writing in Word and then pasting to the post page, that would have saved me some agony if I'd been doing that. The "V's" and "X's" are a superb sign for a proper setup and the You Tube videos really helped to finalize your description. Yes, there is more gold there both up and down stream however, the year for that site is about closed down. High elevation, long hike in, steep hike out so if bad weather happens to blow in, the circumstances could get dire. I've spent three days hunkering down in the rain and then had to hike out in a drizzle only to find it was snowing at the top and I do not care to repeat that. Also, I've been offered a chance at a different spot, lower elevation, so if the weather allows me to I will check that out either next week or the week after.

And finally, here are a few more pictures taken from another side canyon even higher up in elevation in September of 09. Another spot of breath taking beauty. The huge tree fell just off to one side of a hardrock mine. The canyon above it could have been formed by water runoff. The second picture is the same tree only you can see more of the side of the canyon to the right of the tree. The third picture shows a ridge line near the top of the mountain. The ridge line IS the trail. Many years ago I reopened the section of this trail that goes to the mine near the fallen tree. It was quite a job to cut through all that underbrush but worth it.

Have fun, as I've been told - Stay Safe and good fortune with your prospecting and life in general! 63bkpkr

 

[Goldwasher]

Re: Trip & Results with modification to A52 sluice

hey...... 63' did you know that in your last pic your looking down into an old Hydraulic Mine maybe you did.....and if you didnt look at that little fir tree growin' out of that moonscape hillside that very quick "UNNATAURAL" erosion.....look at it.......your on top or a Tertiary or an Inter- Volcanic Channel....from wherever that pic was taken.. head down hill if there is a creek in on through and or below that area by all means you need to dig there.

 

[maui]

Re: Trip & Results with modification to A52 sluice

63, again thanks much for the beautifull pictures and does look like a good place to find that
yellow metel. yep, be carefull and stay safe out there epecially now a days with all the crazy
things going on everywhere. also good to hear that you are carring protection and i know that
it does give alittle comfort in the mind. enjoy reading your posts and as i have already said,
beautifull pictures. take care of yourself and keep use up dated on your adventures.
also, pvillehunter did give you some great advise about checking out the hydrolic area in the last picture and bet that you will make some good finds.
question, do you always go it alone?
take care and stay safe out there. ron

 

[63bkpkr]

Re: Trip & Results with modification to A52 sluice

Pvillehunter - You are correct about the hydraulicked hillside! I've metal detected but have found nothing and no creek below, darn. The miners nearly washed away the entire mountain top leaving only a small section on which there is a jeep road. Talk about a dusty road, WOW! Many years ago on a different mountain top I came across a Monitor Nozzle, it resides in my collection as it was long before the Feds ruling of a few years back about not removing historic stuff from the forest. That nozzle was used to flesh out a section of the Blue Lead. Oh, in my earlier pictures of my prospecting site there is a 4' 6" pry bar/work bar/wrecking bar or whatever its correct name is. It started life with a point on one end and an angled crow foot on the other and it is stamped SP Co. and that stamping may mean it was used in the Southern Pacific railroad yards moving tracks and ties but that is a speculation on my part. I found the bar standing vertically INSIDE a hillside and therefore totally covered, the GMT sniffed it out. It was up that side canyon with the mossy covered rock and dry gully and at the site of the cables and chain falls. I could not understand why I had such a weird and long in length object in the hill. I dug a small hole and saw what reminded me of a root but when my hand touched "cold steel" I recognized the feel as just that. The bar was easy to pull out of the hydraulicked hillside. The point has been beaten down, possibly as it may have been used to break rocks. Anyway, it remains in the canyon due to my honoring the federal law on antiquities. In the last pictures I posted and near that huge fallen tree there is a drilling machine with 1800's patent dates on it. It has been laying in one place for many years and is an awesome hunk of steel. Once it was missing, must have been hauled off into the bushes and then it was put back, strange. No way for people to haul that thing out on foot as it is So heavy and no way for a chopper to get in there as the forest is so high. Hence my comment about running across history all the time. In another spot is an old Buick engine with a capstan type rope winch on the end of the transmission, HOW did they get that stuff in there. Possibly by chopper as the river is open in that area.


Maui Ron - For many years now I've been going solo into the mountains in CA. Mostly it has worked out well without serious injuries. Once I had a minor sprained ankle and once I broke my leg AND sprained the same ankle. Fortunately the break went in and then down and also fortunately I carry some heavy pain medication left over from my knee operations and also fortunately I hike with a substantial hiking staff. I was able to re-shoulder my 85 pound pack and hike out with the help of the meds and the staff. Be careful hiking after rain storms as the dirt is separated from the small pebbles leaving only the pebbles on the surface, these then become ball bearings and allow ones feet or in my case foot to slide resulting in the break to my leg. I wear a sturdy knee brace on the left leg and it may have contributed to the break or else it kept the break from going all the way across, take your pick. In any case I'm very careful around freshly rained on Dirt.

And again, thanks to everyone for your thoughts, questions and interest in this topic. 63bkpkr

 

[eathan]

Re: Trip & Results with modification to A52 sluice

Nice pics. Looks like a fun area.

Like others have already posted, my initial reaction on the first pics was "Whoa, that sluice is practically underwater" which explains the need for constant cleanup described later. That said, the gold looks great. Imagine if you'd been able to dig all day with maybe one or two cleanups total. How much more material could you have run...?

Keep working it. You'll get used to the sluice, zero in on the right setup and start doing well there.

 

[63bkpkr]

Re: Trip & Results with modification to A52 sluice & Eathan

Hi Eathan,
I am what is known in the trade as a tyro! I purchased the sluice this year and have used it twice, once with less water but still too much and then the second time with way too much water. From the great descriptive posts I now have a good knowledge of how to properly use and set up the sluice and what to expect out of it. Now, to get back out into the mountains and use all the information and encouragement I've received. I was supposed to be out there this week but an emergency came up and I put the trip off. If the weather holds I will go out from 25 to 30 October.

A trip this late in the Sierras requires a close eye on the weather as I do not care to be an early fall snow storm statistic. I will carry two sets of snow chains for my Bronco and much warmer clothes than usual.

The area is beautiful, full of all sorts of marvelous places like a box canyon with a 200' waterfall that has formed some lovely pools and they happen to be filled with native rainbow trout with a high percentage of them being 18" to 24" in length. Oddly enough it seems like nobody goes there or if they do they have used some excellent manners as the place is free of any signs of mankind. I guess an all day trek to get in and out of there is a bit much for most folks especially when the easiest way to drop into the canyon is by rope and that requires another 30 lbs of gear to pull that off.

Thanks for cheering me on and I'm hopeful to take another trip or two this year. 63bkpkr

 

[nuggy]

Re: Trip & Results with modification to A52 sluice

Hi 63, great thread and photos are awesome, beautiful country, nice gold too. Kudos to you for getting out into it.
I would build a small dam, say a foot high, to get the water level a little higher, sit sluice on lowest part on top of dam and get some fall on the box, add and remove rocks to regulate water flow. Box will work better right out of the water. P'ville and others have given you the good info.
Hope you go back next year, put some more wash through, detect all that exposed bedrock, and let us know how you went. Good luck, Nuggy.

 

[63bkpkr]

Re: Trip & Results with modification to A52 sluice Nuggy

Hi Nuggy,
I've enjoyed this particular river canyon since 1964. The pictures I've posted are pretty good but the best and most beautiful or difficult places
are only in my memory as I did not have a camera with me.

Thank you for the little rock dam tip, the moment I read it I could picture my sluice being on top of it. Yup, many folks kindly posted some mighty useful information so that we can all enjoy using it.

I received my Batpan and Grizzly yesterday from Batpan.com and Bruce must have sent it the moment I clicked on the order button as it really came fast. I'm looking forward to trying it out!! The moment I saw the video I believed in the pan, asked him a few questions, read his reply and bought it. I am not disappointed! It looks neat AND it is the latest version of the pan and no longer needs the strip of matting at the top. He's built in what he calls "a deep safety groove" at the top of the initial working edge. "This groove offers extra protection for beginners and allows experienced panners to be fearlessly aggressive with this super-fast pan". I WILL BE IN THE MOUNTAINS 25-29 October with Batpan and GMT detector for a little fun and exploring. I will definitely post my comments from the trip so, please pray for sunshine for me during that time period.

To all my best wishes, keep your thoughts Golden - 63bkpkr

 

[golddust77]

Re: Trip & Results with modification to A52 sluice

I dont think a gun would stop me from dredging that hole with my 4 inch keene thats beeeaaautifill

 

[63bkpkr]

Re: Trip & Results with modification to A52 sluice

Hi golddust77,
I do not quite understand your comment about a gun keeping you from dredging that hole. If you are refering to the last pool of all the waterfall pools from the last pictures I posted then Yes it is a beautiful thing! You would need to lower your dredge and yourself by rope to get to it but all of that is do-able, of course that is once the ban on dredging has been lifted. I suspect you would be the first person to ever dredge that pool but you would want to bring your heated wet suit with you as that water will be quite cold! I suppose you could get a helicopter to lower it in because it would take 6 men and a good sized little boy to haul all that gear in by foot.

Glad you enjoyed the picture as I enjoy sharing them, 63 bkpkr

 

[golddust77]

Re: Trip & Results with modification to A52 sluice

I just ment i would difinetly go out of my way to prospect in that hole. under waterfall. i seen your in cali. and know you cant dredge (leagle) i dont think i could help my self from diving in with a hose fine ,jail or what ever. as for the ban i wouldnt hold your breath. ol terminator wants to keep the riches in the state .

 

[63bkpkr]

Re: Trip & Results with modification to A52 sluice

Addendum,
I've been looking for work in "the city" but so far nothing more than nibbles. Late last year I took a two day job
searching class and one of the suggestions was to exercise to keep the stress at a minimum so I started the old fashioned
floor exercises and added in two 5 pound dumbells, that was 15Dec. After only 1.5 months of exercising for about an
hour a day I am feeling really good, looking a little better and I'm starting to salivate at all the lovely weather in the mountains.
I've done a few really physical jobs and the ole body has reacted quite well. I can see some muscle starting to show in
my arms and there is less of me around the waist. I will continue this exercise but if the weather in the mountains continues
to be so nice I will take a week and go see what I can find "out there". Oh, in late April I turn 67 years of age and I'm
pleased with that. Even if I do not get out into the hills till summer I know I will be once again in really good condition
and that will make it all so much easier. I am very curious to return to my 'digs' of last year to see what the winter high
water has done to it and to start all over again using the GMT on the banks all around that spot. I plan on bringing it on
every trip in 2011!

A ten pound nugget being the last one in the Sierras, BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAh.

Thanks to all for the recent outing posts as they have really been exciting to read and look at! 63bkpkr