Does the presence of load mines = the presence of Placer Gold?

[arthos]

There's a concentration of old Load Gold mines near me. My question is how often does concentrations of load mines mean there is a presence of alluvial gold in arroyos? As far as I know no mining activity has been conducted in t he area since early 1900s. How likely do you think it is there is (alluvial) gold in them hills?
the specific area I'm talking about is the upper middle region of the map.

 

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[MadMarshall]

Whats your thoughts on erosion? Armchair prospecting is very helpful but not nearly as valuable as boots on the ground and actual sampling.. I doubt that anyone could post an answer that would actually be of true value unless they have actual boots on the ground experience..

 

[arthos]

Whats your thoughts on erosion? Armchair prospecting is very helpful but not nearly as valuable as boots on the ground and actual sampling.. I doubt that anyone could post an answer that would actually be of true value unless they have actual boots on the ground experience..

My thoughts on erosion are, outcroppings crumble and gold ends up in arroyos. I suspect with that many mines concentrated there SHOULD have been gold in those ditches at one time. As you said boots on the ground is the only way to know if there is any still there. Thanks MadMarshall for the reply.

 

[Laz7777]

actual experience is the best.
but, if there was an onsite mill, there could be some gold in the tailings.
technically I wouldn't call it placer or alluvial gold, but I wouldn't care as long as it was there and I could mine it.

 

[Goldfinger450]

To my knowledge Most of the Tertiary Channels have been drilled and mapped, I know some of the old time drillers who did exactly that. CaliPHonyia has pretty much stopped mining in the state.

No the Majority of Gold is STILL in the ground.

 

[oidium45]

I would think it likely that even though they mined out the larger quantities that they "found".. there would still be smaller quantities in some of the surrounding areas which could end up in the streams and riverbeds. But what do i know.

 

[dave wiseman]

Read the state mining reports of your county via public library or university libraries.

 

[arthos]

Read the state mining reports of your county via public library or university libraries.

I have, they talk about the above mentioned load mines, and the relevant information pertaining to them. Not what I'm looking for exactly.

 

[Just_curious]

I feel like we probably of only unearthed like 5% of the gold in America and there's still an abundance of it in alot of places. That being said, I have experienced complete failure every time I've gone out...so my opinion really doesn't count

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[dave wiseman]

Arthos,what county are you looking to prospect in?

 

[arthos]

Arthos,what county are you looking to prospect in?

Western half of Riverside County.

 

[Goldwasher]

There's a concentration of old Load Gold mines near me. My question is how often does concentrations of load mines mean there is a presence of alluvial gold in arroyos? As far as I know no mining activity has been conducted in t he area since early 1900s. How likely do you think it is there is (alluvial) gold in them hills?
View attachment 1507060 the specific area I'm talking about is the upper middle region of the map.

Those aren't all gold mines. Arlington tunnel is a viaduct for EMWD. A bunch of Colorado River water runs underground along Cajalco Rd. to Lake Matthews.

Believe it or not I grew up near where Spider web No. 1 is on Myron st. Grew up there 1979 to 1997

Some of the first mines I explored where in Gavalin Hills. There is not much to see today. Santa Rosa Mine was a hole in the ground full of junk. It used to have an old Wrecker( tow truck) at the top used as a hoist.

Most of the mines around the Santa Rosa group were worked in the 1930's there used to be a small reservoir on the BLM land off of Santa Rosa mine Rd. with a families initials in the cement. The date was 1940.

You used to be able to see here the shaft of the Ida Leona was.

The area back there used to be a lot more rural and explorable when I was a kid and teen in the 80's and 90's.Used to be acres of orange groves we would walk through and stock up on naval oranges and head into the hills to explore.

We would also turn on the big fans they used to circulate air during hard frosts. Then we would run and ditch the orchard workers that tried to chase and catch us.

It's a lot browner and deader than it used to be around there. And the old trails in the hills lead to a lot of illegally dumped trash it sucks cause its a cool little spot.

The gold was microscopic in very fine quartz veins with pyrite. In decomposing granite. No real placer gold in the area. I heard of some near Ortega Highway. We never could find them. Or any thing that looked placer like.

In my experience "diggings" can mean placer ground.

The Good Hope was the biggest producer. Really the only one you'll read much of. They have pictures of it at the Perris Museum.

There is Black Tourmaline in feldspar in the area.

I've heard of gold in Quail Valley near the Rail Road museum south Perris area and Menifee.

 

[dave wiseman]

Perhaps you can find something in one of these links.....https://www.google.com/search?hl=en......1.1.34.heirloom-hp..15.20.3614.9j-5WfgNGIA

 

[Hoser John]

There is a great State geo Map "The Mines and Minerals of Riverside county" that marks all and denotes what minerals were mined. Finding placer eroded from lode is readily possible BUT never an absolute as way too many factors to just answer yes/no. John

 

[Clay Diggins]

Most mines are not gold mines as Goldwasher pointed out.

Of those lode mines that produced gold most ores were sulfides which generally produce no free milling (placer) gold. Lode mines can be an indicator of placer deposits but most are not associated with placers.

When researching a particular area you need to dig a little deeper than assuming lode = placer. Study the history of the lode mine to determine whether the ore was free milling.

Heavy Pans

 

[arthos]

Those aren't all gold mines. Arlington tunnel is a viaduct for EMWD. A bunch of Colorado River water runs underground along Cajalco Rd. to Lake Matthews.

Believe it or not I grew up near where Spider web No. 1 is on Myron st. Grew up there 1979 to 1997

Some of the first mines I explored where in Gavalin Hills. There is not much to see today. Santa Rosa Mine was a hole in the ground full of junk. It used to have an old Wrecker( tow truck) at the top used as a hoist.

Most of the mines around the Santa Rosa group were worked in the 1930's there used to be a small reservoir on the BLM land off of Santa Rosa mine Rd. with a families initials in the cement. The date was 1940.

You used to be able to see here the shaft of the Ida Leona was.

The area back there used to be a lot more rural and explorable when I was a kid and teen in the 80's and 90's.Used to be acres of orange groves we would walk through and stock up on naval oranges and head into the hills to explore.

We would also turn on the big fans they used to circulate air during hard frosts. Then we would run and ditch the orchard workers that tried to chase and catch us.

It's a lot browner and deader than it used to be around there. And the old trails in the hills lead to a lot of illegally dumped trash it sucks cause its a cool little spot.

The gold was microscopic in very fine quartz veins with pyrite. In decomposing granite. No real placer gold in the area. I heard of some near Ortega Highway. We never could find them. Or any thing that looked placer like.

In my experience "diggings" can mean placer ground.

The Good Hope was the biggest producer. Really the only one you'll read much of. They have pictures of it at the Perris Museum.

There is Black Tourmaline in feldspar in the area.

I've heard of gold in Quail Valley near the Rail Road museum south Perris area and Menifee.

You are correct about the Arlington, most of them are old gold mines are prospect sites though. I grew up off of HWY 74 against the southeast side of those hills (Medowbrook) and (GoodHope) Also exploring those hills in 90s. I know there has never been any real known historical Placer operations but with so many old mines It would be hard to believe there is no gold in the arastas likely mixed with a lot of rusted trash debris sadly.
Reading old reports it seems a couple of those mines were actually "discovered" in the 1890s estimated to have been previously worked mid 1800s. Although Good Hope mine was by far the biggest a couple of them had good gold production in there day. Which is why like you said there were mines being worked all the way through the 30s. Speaking of Placer and hwy 74, I also read placer was worked by spanish/mexicans from the cannyon that is now "Cannyon Lake" back up to the source which became the GoodHope Mine. If you had to take a guess would you think there is any gold to be found above ground in the area?

 

[arthos]

Most mines are not gold mines as Goldwasher pointed out.

Of those lode mines that produced gold most ores were sulfides which generally produce no free milling (placer) gold. Lode mines can be an indicator of placer deposits but most are not associated with placers.

When researching a particular area you need to dig a little deeper than assuming lode = placer. Study the history of the lode mine to determine whether the ore was free milling.

Heavy Pans

I'm sure you mean well, but I am not assuming anything. I'm asking how often in the experience of anyone reading the post does load=placer. I have read many reports of the operations in the area and there is indeed free mill gold in the quarts veins once mined here. There is nothing to be found on placer gold being found other than word of mouth of pre 1860s workings. However knowing the area in question and it being such a small area with small hills, and such little water I'm still curious if there could be gold in the small storm fed arroyos. Could it have been overlooked, or replenished over the last century? This is what I'm looking for opinions on.

Heavy Pans to you my friend.

Edit: Pherhaps I shouldn't say "nothing to be found" there are a few placer claims on record in the surrounding area however none of those have had numbers on actual gold recovered. Unlike many of the Load mines.

 

[Bejay]

If I were a younger miner and starting all over I would give special thought to exploring for "in stream placer gold" on any drainage that has had a "mineable lode deposit". For example: In Oregon there have been minor lode deposits that are on record as producing some gold. Many are in very remote regions/areas. Pocket gold is a very unique form of lode, and is widely known to exist in Oregon. The old timers did not have the hi tech methods of extracting placer gold like we have today. Specifically dredges. The old timers needed easy more abundant placer deposits to warrant their hard work. I believe some small stream/drainage systems, in close proximity to old lode deposits; that have been left untouched by the early miners,... warrant exploration via a dredge. It has been my experience that the extremely small streams can hold nice "in stream" placer gold. I usually use a suction gun rather than carry in a whole dredge at first. If I were a young miner looking for "my spot" I would really be into exploring for such "in stream deposits".

Bejay

 

[arthos]

If I were a younger miner and starting all over I would give special thought to exploring for "in stream placer gold" on any drainage that has had a "mineable lode deposit". For example: In Oregon there have been minor lode deposits that are on record as producing some gold. Many are in very remote regions/areas. Pocket gold is a very unique form of lode, and is widely known to exist in Oregon. The old timers did not have the hi tech methods of extracting placer gold like we have today. Specifically dredges. The old timers needed easy more abundant placer deposits to warrant their hard work. I believe some small stream/drainage systems, in close proximity to old lode deposits; that have been left untouched by the early miners,... warrant exploration via a dredge. It has been my experience that the extremely small streams can hold nice "in stream" placer gold. I usually use a suction gun rather than carry in a whole dredge at first. If I were a young miner looking for "my spot" I would really be into exploring for such "in stream deposits".

Bejay

I found that encouraging. Thanks!

 

[KevinInColorado]

I've found most of my best gold in the little stream-beds. They were often overlooked by historical prospectors who were seeking to get rich. Can't get rich off of something so small after all. Go sample some!