Diamonds, Quartz or Gold!

[Diamond Dode]

4/28/17 I'm in SE MO and I wish I'd known about this kind of fun when I was younger. So, I'm late to the party, at age 60ish and am going on my first prospecting gig tomorrow! I'm heading to Crater of Diamonds in AR. haha! I'm hoping it will give me some classifying experience, in a safe setting, before I head out into the wilderness in August. While in AR, I'd like to head over to the Coleman Mine, and Mt. Ida too, for some crystal quartz prospecting. Then, I'll spend most of the summer kayaking and practicing in some local creeks and going back to Mt. Ida now and then. Btw, I picked my username in honor of my first prospecting effort.... I'm sure it will be ironic! The Crater's diamonds are mostly .25 pts or less, so my hopes are already dashed. However, it's a camping trip and that alone should be fun. Plus, I get to meet lots of 'prospector' type people.

Oh, yes, I have 2 Apache campers. 1974 and 1977. One is camp ready and the other is awaiting lift repair when I return from the Crater. I just acquired both of them last month, so I'm pretty thrilled about them. One of them will become part of my future prospecting gear. Weighs about 1500 lbs, so I can pull it with my 4.3 SUV. These are hard sided campers, so there's no canvas to rot, or having to listen to it flapping with the wind. Not really bear safe, but better than a tent! I'm looking forward to taking one of them to CO in Aug., or sooner.

 

[Diamond Dode]

Later in the day..... Yes, I'm starting a prospecting journal and it's off to a rough start. With all the rain and massive storm system moving though here, I can't leave on Sunday, because my basement took on 2' of water. The sump pump did not do its job. Darn GFI kicked off and I didn't think to check the basement until it was too late. Spent this whole day battling it. Finally, ran a heavy duty extension and plugged the sump into that. Then, went upstairs and plugged it in. It's been running for hours and still has a foot of water to pump. Supposed to rain again on Wed, so my trip to Crater is postponed until Thur or Fri. I'm canceling my reservation for tomorrow and will wing it on Thur. If Crater doesn't have a spot for me, I'll boondock the Apache somewhere.

Last night I was awakened by the sound of a massive freight train. I thought surely I was in for a tornado. 20 seconds later, it was gone. Today, I didn't hear of anyone seeing or being struck by a tornado, but there was lots of flooding all around.

When I make plans for CO, I'll be sure to let you all know! I asked the forestry service here if I could placer mine in the State Parks and was told absolutely not. There is an old silver mine about 4 miles from my house and it is now part of the State Parks and is on a nice river with lots of bends. I'll try to take my yak a bit downstream of the park campground and see if I can find a secluded bend to do some panning. My yak is a 'sit on top', with a good size cargo area behind me, to hold my gear. Here's a pic. EDIT: Btw, the cooler pic was a joke for my friend.



Added cleats, fishing pole holder and a trolley

 

[Diamond Dode]

4/29/17 Got all the water pumped out of the basement and went to bed at 4 a.m. Awoke at 11 to find another foot of water down there. Trudged through it to find the sump clogged with floating debris; canning jars and wine bottles (yes, I make wine, too). I made sure to put all the floating debris into my canners and cookers. Hours later, it was pumped out. Then, I went outside to pump the water off the top of the pool cover and directed it to UNDER the cover. No sense letting a lot of clean water go to waste.

Once I get all these 'flood' related problems solved, I can get back to planning my escape. I did call Crater of Diamonds and canceled my reservation. I mentioned the flooded basement and she said they had a lot of cancellations, due to the midwest flooding. Next on the list is to schedule a plumber to take the control box out of the brand new water heater and blow the water out of it and the lines...... good golly! Looks like I'll be taking my version of camp showers for a week or two. That's where I heat a gallon of water on the stove, carry it to the shower and add 4 gallons of cool to it. Those canning pots sure come in handy! However, if I were in the desert for 2 weeks at a time, I'd be rationed to 1 gallon for washing, every few days.

 

[Diamond Dode]

Prospecting gear; here's what I have. Garrett Ace 250, hardly used, as I'm not too interested in hunting for old coins, lost jewelry, etc. However, when I bought it, I thought it would be fun to look for those things as practice.

I have a set of 4 classifiers, saruca and pan, rock hammer, chisel, big pry bar, buckets, scoops (metal and plastic), claw, snuff bottle, small specimen bottles, tweezers, dental picks, various gloves, ventilated hat.... tarps, poles and guy lines for shade at sites. Yeah, I'm ready to GO!

 

[DizzyDigger]

Sounds like you've got all the stuff..now you just need some decent ground to prospect.

Have you been practicing your panning?

 

[Diamond Dode]

Sounds like you've got all the stuff..now you just need some decent ground to prospect.

Have you been practicing your panning?

Haven't practiced panning, yet. Was hoping to do lots of that at Crater. I doubt MO has too much to offer when it comes to panning. Quartz and hematite is what we have. I'm in an area that has a lot of iron, clay and druzy quartz. (Why not diamonds and gold? Dang it!) However, as soon as the rains and flooding settle down, I'll hit some local creeks and see how it goes.

 

[63bkpkr]

Diamond Dode,
Welcome to Tnet! 60 is not old, just well travelled! Prospecting will test your patience, improve your skills of research & learning, will offer Work to you disguised in the form of Recreation & Adventure and as long as you enjoy the out-of-doors and stick to enjoying it then you should do well as the adventure is frequently the most one finds. Then again a first timer could just find the best diamond found this year!

Water is a friend of mine, sept of course when it floods the basement. One must respect the water as five gallons weighs 40lbs and hundreds of 40 pounders will hold a person underwater for a long time. Then again the water flushes new sparkly things out of hiding every year and that is where more adventures come from.

Have fun with the trailers, prospecting, kayaking and anything else you choose to do! Oh, and when you can and as you have already, pictures are sure appreciated on this forum.................63bkpkr

 

[Diamond Dode]

63bkpkr..... I set up some albums today..... have a look. However, I didn't include my 150 cc scooter. I bought it 2 years ago, thinking it would come in handy for off road prospecting. That was probably a bad idea.

 

[63bkpkr]

Nice comfortable looking trailers. I rented one of the canvas units many years ago, anything that brings a bit of relaxation to a trip is appreciated!.........63bkpkr

 

[Diamond Dode]

Nice comfortable looking trailers. I rented one of the canvas units many years ago, anything that brings a bit of relaxation to a trip is appreciated!.........63bkpkr

The best thing about my campers is that they were very affordable. True, by the time I finish upgrading the interior of the '77, new tires, fix cracks and gearbox work, I'll have $1000 into it. However, the '74 was free and only seems to need some interior decorating done; it even came with a big window AC.

On facebook, is the Apache Camper Preservation Society and there seems to be for sale an affordable camper every couple of weeks. I believe right now someone is offering one of the canvas units for sale and it looks really good; small enough to be towed by any vehicle. Also, there's one of the big units being offered in the NE for $275; it needs tires and packed bearings to tow it home and a lot of easy to do work. (Scrape tar paper off 2 of the panels, sand and paint those panels, replace some broken acrylic windows, new cushions, living hinges.... it's all doable and parts can be purchased from Apache Replacement Parts LLC.

5 years ago, I couldn't find any Apaches for sale. Right now, I believe we are in the 2nd, 20 year cycle. People who bought them new in the 70's, sold them in the 90's. Now, 40 years later, they are being offered again.

Yesterday, I took my MD over to my 100 year old other house (soon to be my retirement cottage, after I sell the 'Big House' ). That property must be full of nails and rocks with heavy minerals. There was a hit every foot. After digging up 5 nails, I stopped digging. Curiously, there was one tree that had a constant alert all around the base of the tree, almost like there is something inside the tree. Since that tree is on the front of the property, by the street, I doubt anyone would bury a treasure trove right there and plant a tree on top of it. Better to do that in the back of the property. Another part of the property had an alert on a section of ground that was 12"x4'. I believe that's probably a garden implement, or maybe a metal fence post. I haven't detected under the house, yet. It has a very dry crawl space and I'd prefer to do it in very cold weather, when the spiders aren't moving. MO is an hotbed for Brown Recluse spiders. I received a teeny bite from one, 20 years ago, and recovered nicely without any scarring. So, I don't want to push my luck.

 

[63bkpkr]

Interesting about the trailers being up for sale again. Me, I'm "Tent Rich" and with what I've been doing a trailer does not fit into my life but it does yours and that is a good thing and they are inexpensive!

Metal detecting old property will take clearing the initial junk targets some of which might come up by running a magnet over the top of the ground. Then again if you have grass everywhere then digging will be the only way. A 100 year old property should be worth clearing out the trash signals. There could even be an outhouse hole or two on the property and the junk that was thrown into them can sell for a decent price these days. Old property = Old Targets especially if you have a lot of trash signals as that means nobody else has detected there or the trash would not be everywhere. Best of luck with all you are up to these days.................63bkpkr

 

[Diamond Dode]

The month has flown by! No prospects for prospecting, either. However, I just attended a family reunion and a S. Dakota relative was there. We were in high school together and didn't see each other again, until a few years ago at the hs reunion. He said as soon as I get myself on the road with my camper, to be sure to head for SD, in his neck of the woods, and do some gold prospecting. He told me that he worked there in the gold mine almost all of his adult life. I told him I'd love to give it a shot and not to expect me to be looking like a beauty queen after 2 weeks in the field. He said it was ok; they would hose me off in the back yard, before I went in the house for a shower. Sounds like a good deal to me!

 

[Diamond Dode]

63bkpkr....Sorry for the long delay in responding to your informative post to me. I've been thinking of getting a small tent trailer. They are much easier to set up and strike. However, yesterday I acquired another almost 'freebie' Apache Cimarron camper... that makes two Cimarrons and a Royal. As soon as I get them fixed up, two will be for sale. I wouldn't be opposed to delivery, either, as I like to travel around the country.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I detected a 4' x 12" space and I thought it was a fence post. Why would it be 12" wide? I think I'll go over there and dig it up. The curiosity is getting to me.