given the choice, where would you go?

[M3R1IN]

Ok i have a dilema...
Im going on a prospecting trip and i have 2 options
Northern B.C. Canada near Stewart as well as Quesnel
OR
Northern California
I have access to properties in both places
where would you go if u were panning and nugget hunting?

 

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[Hoser John]

Canada will always be there but mining in kalif,or any US mining is in deep trouble--do it today in the USA because the bureauratz are on the march to stamp out ALL small mining by 2008.John

 

[russau]

for me it would have tobe Calif. before you wont be able to do anything there anymore! the other states will soon follow this warped thing aswell!

 

[M3R1IN]

u know i have a dilema because i have shares in a mining company in north B.C. and the CEO himself is going to meet us there if we want and he hinted that he might be able to use the helicopter to fly us into really remote areas...this offer wont be on the table for long though. The company is producing electrum silver and gold and i know i will be able to find good gold there. California..hmmm i really long to go there and i might have an opportunity to go in September because its been in the high 90s and low 100s here in Canada i am worried about the heat in Nocal. It might have to wait till september. what do u think i should do?
just a comment on the bureaucrats in the U.S. although canada isnt as bureaucratic as the U.S. (but i think its getting pretty close) the Aboriginal political groups are making life more and more difficult for miners in Canada all the time and i fear they might use their environmental B.S. to try to ban dredging altogether...

 

[Functional]

M3R1IN you might want to take advantage of any offer to be flown in and out of remote areas, as theres a better chance of finding stuff where its hard to get at.

Also, those involved in prospecting for larger companies sometimes know of deposits that aren't economical to actually mine by those companies. In deciding what areas to mine, large companies and even some of the more skilled small scale miners are looking at a site based on cost to access and work, along with the number of man years of labor needed to work the site, compared to the expected returns for all this.

If a site easy to get to, but only offers say 20 man years of labor, then sending crew of 200 miners in to clean it out, isn't very practical as it would be tapped out within a couple of months. Just something to keep in mind if you run into people in the field of claim staking.

I don't know of any pay-to-mine places in BC, but there are free to pan places known as "Recreational Panning Sites". The following page has maps available for download in Adobe pdf format:
http://www.em.gov.bc.ca/mining/titles/Panning/Rec_Panning.htm

Heres a quote from that page:
"Recreational panning is restricted to hand pans, hand shovels, and metal detectors. The use of sluice or shaker boxes, suction dredges, and other mechanical devices are not permitted."

I don't know about the Stewart area, but the Frasier river at Quesnel is one of those areas where you are free to pan or use a metal detector.

Having never panned south of the border, I really can't say how you would do in California. I have seen some good sized nuggets come out of northern BC in the Atlin lake area and from the Yukon side, but you really need to be equipped for anything up there, (including bears). I hope to go up that way myself within the next two summers, depending on how things go between now and then.

Good luck.

F.

 

[M3R1IN]

yeah ive been looking in to stopping in the Quesnel/barkerville area on my way back from stewart and i have looked into going to Atlin, but its too far to travel by road and still have a decent amount of time to prospect... Do u know if a rotapan is still considered a pan? because i have one for those "sticky"areas of B.C. where the DFO likes to give me a hard time about my sluice. oh and about the bears... i always keep a can of bear spray, a flare pen with "bear scares" and a fold stock short barrell shotgun with me when im panning in B.C. hopefully that'll be enough. If that seems like overkill i think im justified because one of my uncles brothers was killed by a grizzly a few years ago in the Alberta Rockies so i dont take any chances.

 

[Functional]

yeah ive been looking in to stopping in the Quesnel/barkerville area on my way back from stewart and i have looked into going to Atlin, but its too far to travel by road and still have a decent amount of time to prospect...

If you can fly in it would be ok, otherwise your right, it would take awhile to get in to the Atlin area.

Do u know if a rotapan is still considered a pan? because i have one for those "sticky"areas of B.C. where the DFO likes to give me a hard time about my sluice.

You might want to drop a line to the Gold Commissioner via email on the website mentioned previously. I don't think that you could use the rotapan within the Recreational Panning Sites, but other unclaimed areas should be ok if it is self contained, (recycles its own water), and the tailings don't drop into the creek or river.

oh and about the bears... i always keep a can of bear spray, a flare pen with "bear scares" and a fold stock short barrell shotgun with me when im panning in B.C. hopefully that'll be enough. If that seems like overkill i think im justified because one of my uncles brothers was killed by a grizzly a few years ago in the Alberta Rockies so i dont take any chances.

Carrying old style sleigh bells, or something to let the critters hear you coming is a plus too. (Keep the shotgun hidden if its been modified. They don't like the shortened ones up here.) And keep in mind, not all the vermin have four legs. Having a good guard dog helps. And maybe a very loud siren, like a car alarm and strobe lights.

I mentioned this elsewhere awhile back, but I'll mention it again. I was pulled over and snoozing on the front seat of my truck in a rest stop on the side of the highway, not too far from Pentiton one night. And some young guy pulled up in a car about 50 feet in front of my truck. When I woke up the dog who had been sleeping on the floor, had its front paws up on the dash and was barking away at something. I sat up and there was this guy heading for my truck with a baseball bat. He had stopped at the sound of the dog and when I sat up and threw on the headlights, he covered his face and ran back to the car. I guess it was still running because he took off out of there before I could focus my eyes on his license plate. I don't know to this day who this guy was, or why he wanted to do harm to me or my truck, but I'm sure glad I had that doberman.

One other thing you might want to consider if your going to be away from your vehicle, camper, motorhome, etc. Get an alarm that has a pager. I have one that I picked up at a yard sale for $10.00. It was made for a motorcycle and has both the normal audible and visible alarm option and a silent alarm via a pager. The pager has a range of about 2 miles and the alarm will send different codes to the pager to indicate whether the door has been pried, or some vibration has taken place on the windows, or elsewhere on the vehicle. I'm thinking of installing it on the travel trailer I'm renovating, since it is easier to steal than a vehicle and has backup batteries.

Good luck!

F.

 

[M3R1IN]

about that shotgun, its registered and perfectly legal it is the shortest legal length it can be in Canada so it shouldnt be a problem. Although i would love to take my Chocolate lab or Border collie with me i cant see it happening because we have a topper on the back of our truck with all our crap in it and neither of our dogs like riding in the cab... as well as other logistical things related to carrying an animal on a long trip(20+) hours of driving i just dont think its plausible. As far as noise is concerned, i will be taking my ATV as far as i can and i have an air horn i use periodically while on foot as well as a bell i usually wear.

 

[Functional]

i would love to take my Chocolate lab or Border collie with me

When it comes to bears, having a dog around can go either way.

As far as noise is concerned, i will be taking my ATV as far as i can and i have an air horn i use periodically while on foot as well as a bell i usually wear.

The mental imagery that brings to mind.
Ding-a-ling - - - ding-a-ling - - - ding-a-ling - - - - - - - Hoooooooooooooooooooooooonnnnnnk

I've never used an ATV before, but I would think that the sound of it would keep the bears at a distance, so long as your not between momma bear and her cubs.

F.