Greenhorn prospecting. Questions about material found in pan after first trip

[GoldHunter24k]

Greenhorn Hunter here! So after copious amounts of research, youtube videos, reading forums and speculating, my girlfriend and I ventured out to try our luck in a well known river location in southern California. This spot is famous for its placer deposits and I have seen and met folks who have done quite well in that area, so i know there's gold there. All you have to do is find it right?! We went about a mile up the river and found a 90degree bend, so we started digging on the inside curve. I found lots of big boulders about 4 feet deep that were covered in a clay like mud. Makes sense that gold would travel with the biggest boulders because they are heavier and carry the most centrifugal momentum when tumbling down the river in a flood. So I began to fill a bucket of the material under and around the boulder to see if there was any black sand and maybe even color! Low and behold there were glimmers at the bottom of the pan!

Now, the greenhorn in me got really excited because i had found my first flake of gold! Or was it? So after classifying and panning a bit I had put all the flakes I found in a small vial for safe keeping. After about an hour or so I looked into the vial and noticed that the pieces weren't quite gold anymore. They look a darker color, and weren't quite as gold and shiny as they were in the pan. What was going on here? Was this fools gold or some kind of dark mica or graphite that, when the yellow sun shown on them they looked to be gold? Well I didn't have much time to wonder because the clouds rolled in and it started to rain I had just spent the last hour digging and filling that bucket and now I was going to have to ditch the material because of the storm. Well the stubborn greenhorn in me braved the rain and classified as many bigger stones out of the bucket as I could and humped it back to the truck.

I brought the bucket home and began to pan the concentrate under a light. Well I ran into the same problem. At first I thought I was finding flakes and flour gold but after harvesting the flakes that looked golden in the light, I held the vial up and the pieces were the same dull color I found before. Can anyone shed some light on what i'm finding? It seems to have some weight to it because it falls directly to the bottom when I turn the vial over. Makes it very difficult to actually tell the difference from actual gold or these gold-like specs that i'm finding. Sorry for the long post but i hope that other beginners can learn from this. Thanks

 

[mellowyellow]

The mining gods were not kind to me this morning went out for a short bike ride and somehow the gears slipped and the bike sent me tumbling to the ground. Messed up my digging hand pretty good and took a good piece of skin off my bad knee. I'm alright but I hope this doesn't get too sore tomorrow and heals up before tuesday. Just my luck :P

I'd love to go out to the Mojave. Ive seen a few videos of some nice big nugs coming out of there. What makes you like drywashing the best? I'll definitely have to stop by the keene plant and pick up some supplies. I wasn't sure if they actually sold stuff there or if it was only manufacturing.

I've heard great things about the Keene sluices but i've also seen LeTrap work wonders. They are almost the same price give or take $20 so which one would you recommend? The keene sluices look like they are cheap to duplicate bu the LeTrap looks like it was specially molded with some interesting grooves that seem to catch the gold quite nicely. Not to mention its only 4lbs. Its a bit pricey for a piece of plastic though..

how much is GPAA membership? Is it worth it?

Thanks for the advice CT8620. How did LeTrap work for you? Have you been able to compare it to other sluices in the field?

wow an Uzi? I'm glad its gotten better! In NH we have real lax gun laws so ive had the opportunity to own a few and I believe that guns are a tool and should be treated that way.

How is the Keene drywasher? Is it true that no motorized equipment is allowed at EF? Does that include a small water pump too? Or is it just no dredging allowed?

Yup, no motorized gear not even a pump at the EF.

I love dry washing because I like to really move a lot of dirt and I just like moving a lot of material. Much more material and much faster than feeding a typical water sluice. Just works for me!

Have not tried the letrap but heards a lot of good things. I like my Keene sluice and works great. Just get something an start moving dirt brother! I suggest you go to keenes show room, tell him Scott the fireman sent you. Keenes products are friggin awesome. 4 generations of mining in that family that have learned what works and what doesn't. They do all there manufacturing in house which I like. And it's a one stop shop... You can anything you need there.

GPAA member ship.,,, ughhh to be honest, I hav yet to work a GPAA claim I like and got color. Gpaa claims are Not
Too good. Sounds like your in SoCal, I would look into clubs such as PCSC, TAFT, San Fernando's prospectors club, or the OC 49'ers. These clubs have some fun claims and a fair amount of desert claims if your into that. They also have planned outings monthly where you can learn a lot from people and meet some real nice people.

Your gonna build a sluice? If you like fabricating have at it, but if time is short, just buy one. With time and parts cost, you'll prob break even if u just bought one. And if u buy it, and set it up right it will work great. What eva flloats your boat. if u want to build, have fun with your Frankenstein sluice! Lol. It's fun.. But my suggestion, just get one in hand and Getz to diggin...

Good
Luck!

 

[mellowyellow]

Sorry to hear about your spill off your bike. Ice up and medicate... If u start working rivers you'll get used to falling, lol lol. Slime covered rocks are my enemy! I eat crap at least once a trip , lol. Be careful!

 

[CT8620]

Yeah, no kidding, watch out for the brown and green slimed rocks. And if you're walking in the river and can't see the bottom where you're about to step, assume there's a 3 foot hole there and step somewhere you CAN see the bottom. If you feel yourself going down, aim for the water ... rocks hurt like hell.

CT

 

[GoldHunter24k]

Thanks guys. Yea it sucked pretty bad but nothing short of a broken limb is going to stop me from getting back out there I heal pretty quicky, i just hope my knee is ok. It's taken a lot of punishment in the past.

I'm definitely going to look into joining the GPAA. Especially if it means hassle-free mining on proven claims. Saving up for a metal detector as well. Looking at a used Tesoro LST recommended by TerrySoloman. Soon as i get it i'll be down for some nugget shooting expeditions as well. Ive marked some spots on the maps where there have been lots of bigger boulders that have washed up the inside river bends and where smaller streams flow down off the tallest mountain and converge to an area near the river.

If you see someone hopping around the rocks with a limp that's probably me

 

[Aurabbit79er]

I wouldn't try to dissuade you from mining because of injury, but take it easy, do it fun.

 

[Aurabbit79er]

I built this Sluice out of Lexan(even the Riffels) to travel with.
The Flare and Tray are 3 separate pieces. It fits in my suitcase.





I'll tell you what, running Lexan through a table saw is not fun.

 

[GoldHunter24k]

That Lexan sluice is pretty rockin' Rich! Is that what you normally take in the field? I like the long length too. I'm still messing with proper sluice positioning. I really just need someone to come out there and show me

 

[Aurabbit79er]

We can do that.
I use next to or in line with my 53A.
The clear sluice is perfect for testing.

 

[GoldHunter24k]

Nice!

It sounds like some kind of Star Trek-ian mining device "The Lexan Sluice" haha made from space age materials!

 

[smitty63]

Hey Gold Maven,
I'm in southeast Indiana and hit a few streams and the white river here and find a few specks. I was looking at your pic and was wondering what the silver rings or "c"'s are in your pan? Otherwise, the pan looks awesome! wish i could hit that here.