Advice: Noob with two whole days under his belt Looking for Destination... SW USA

[Socalnuggetnut]

I had my first prospecting adventure in the East Fork San Gabriel River This week and am happy to say I did not get Skunked. I barely can say that, but was elated tocome home with some small flakes in my vile. Long story short, I am already convinced this is way to much work, will never be profitable and probably a total waste of time. So why not do more!

My question is, with a Meager yet adequate Sluicing setup, willingness to drive within 600-800 miles of my location, Orange County, Ca, and some eager labor at my disposal at the cost of hotdogs and Smores, Where could I go for my next adventure? Motherlode Country? AZ? etc.etc. I am open to suggestions. My wife just told me to buy some gold on Ebay with the gas money and she'll put in a bunch of dirt in the garden and let me prospect all I want....See what I am up against?

Thanks for any advice, I do have some local buddies who are sharing there knowledge of So Cal, I will keep trying around here but would really like a "Prospecting Road trip" for the adventure, experience.

 

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[MrLee]

Socal,

We have lots of spots down here in Socal. I know others will say Motherlode country, which would be a nice experience as well, but between the desert and our mountains we've got a lot of good gold and great scenery in our backyards.

Join the GPAA and get a drywasher or a nice MD for the amount of $$ your going to spend on that road trip.

 

[TerryC]

My personal opinion is try the area around Rich Hill, AZ An 8 ounce nugget was recently found here. I found a 1.6 gm nugget. ALWAYS placer to be found daily. I can direct you to areas where I can GAURANTEE daily placer! What do you mean not profitable.... too much work.... too little gold? I think you got to crank those expectations down a notch and enjoy yourself. If you want a paycheck, go work for McDonalds. TTC

 

[Socalnuggetnut]

My personal opinion is try the area around Rich Hill, AZ An 8 ounce nugget was recently found here. I found a 1.6 gm nugget. ALWAYS placer to be found daily. I can direct you to areas where I can GAURANTEE daily placer! What do you mean not profitable.... too much work.... too little gold? I think you got to crank those expectations down a notch and enjoy yourself. If you want a paycheck, go work for McDonalds. TTC

I guess I worded that wrong, I meant that I immediately had a dose of reality about how much I need to learn and how hard of work this really Is. I work in a skilled trade, up and down ladders all day and some heavy work so I was surprised about how the work is. Also I am sure that a lot people go out that first time thinking, i am going to "Beat the odds" and have that multi-gram clean out my first outing. seeing a little color was a nice feeling, I will admit. Long story short, I had my expectations lowered and then realized I had a great time no matter what. I have a solid and flexible day job so I am thinking more along the lines of collecting the gold.

I have a set of Pans with a 1/4 inch classifier, Shovels, digging bar and A second hand 5' Sluice that looks very much like a keene. Has carpet not moss.

I will check the forums some more for info, just wondering:

-I noticed some really fine gold that I could not get with the tweezers, snuffer bottle was a learning curve, And I am under the impression I would need some sort of recovery device i.e. Blue bowl, miller table, etc. at home to recover it. Or do I bring a 2nd sluice for finer gold?

-Related to the above question, are most prospectors bringing there concentrates home or panning at the site? (which I did)...

-Hand dredge easier than shovels?

I also did not mean to say the Hobby or pursuit of prospecting was a waste of time, but the idea of making a living or get-rich-quick was obviously unrealistic (for a beginner or Non-professional thats not in a large scale setup) and I had my butt kicked a little...lol

Thanks Gentlemen!

NN

PS..TTC I dig your slogan!

 

[TerryC]

Tnx, NN. If you mean my signature.. Tnx again. Sorry for the BLUNT remark (McD's) above.... I was just in that kinda mode. I answered your PM... Hope that helps. Are you the one that asked for a pic of my BIG nugget? All 1.6 grams of it? Click my avatar... click on view posts... scroll down to the one of the pic. Probably should have an attachment icon on it. Should be in a post started by Jim Hemmingway, also. If you can't find it by tomorrow, I'll post another pic. I post alot and get many PMs and e-mails. Forgot who asked for the pic. Incidently, newbies AND pros MUST consider all factors of making it a living before selling the house! Tnx again. TTC

 

[TerryC]

Here ya go..... TTC

 

[dustytrails123]

NOt bad terry id be happy being able to shoot any nuggets...wisconsin stinks ;-)

 

[Oakview2]

Hey Terry thats a true beautyKeep it up that multi ouncer is just waiting for you to find it..... Which machine did you find it with, or did you find it in your sluice......Keep up the good work

 

[TimC]

Socal, first of all, I have to inflate my brothers (TerryC) ego a little. He is THE MAN when it comes to the MDing. (Maybe a couple more plugs and his head will blow up, but no problem, there will be no fall-out.) Now, to the recovery. If you learn to READ the river or drywash the recovery will improve. My brother and I are LDMA members and we spend a fair time at, or around, the Stanton camp. I was working down the almost vertical surface of the bedrock at the south end of the main wash. I found that the best gold was hugging the rock. The previous miner working that same face had six large flakes in the first pan of his cons. To make a long story short, the more you know, the more gold you find.

 

[TerryC]

Tnx dusty, Oak, and I guess you too, TimC. The nuggy was found with a Gold Bug 2. I have been looking for over a year before finding it. It is NOT easy but ALWAYS fun! I have been fairly succesfull in the Stanton area and Lynx Creek up by Prescott. I'll tell you, though, Oak, they ALWAYS look bigger when they're first "in the hand!" TTC