Hydraulic mining area from the 1890.

[Mine Shaft]

Went to a new spot close to home to sample a place where they washed good chunks of the mountains away. I was just wondering if any one could give me some pointers or methods on where to dig and what to look for. I will be panning the bucket of dirt shortly and will let you know if i find color. Thank you. The first photo is where i got a bucket full.

 

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[IMAUDIGGER]

I was responding to your question to me about it being claimed. I looked it up for you and gave you what I learned. It’s someone’s property, so it’s as good as claimed. I don’t remember exactly where the fence lies or if there is one.

Sorry that came across condescending I was responding to your term “technically private property”.

I have a friend that was mining on what we determined to be private property. I showed him the land matters web site and he now has two claims to work. One on a creek and one on a river.

There is a bunch of research to be had on the internet. You may still need to visit your county courthouse for specific legal descriptions. There is open ground and with the filing fees going up, there is bound to be some claims that are dropped.

If the mining area is close to the edge of the parcel with the house, it may not actually be located on the property due to errors in the GIS data representing the parcels.

 

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[Mine Shaft]

I looked at a forest map and it has a service road 1N34 going through that area but it also shows public forest land to enjoy, but a large part of that area is white which tells me its private property.

 

[Hamfist]

Sorry that came across condescending I was responding to your term “technically private property”.

I have a friend that was mining on what we determined to be private property. I showed him the land matters web site and he now has two claims to work. One on a creek and one on a river.

There is a bunch of research to be had on the internet. You may still need to visit your county courthouse for specific legal descriptions. There is open ground and with the filing fees going up, there is bound to be some claims that are dropped.

If the mining area is close to the edge of the parcel with the house, it may not actually be located on the property due to errors in the GIS data representing the parcels.

Ok, I follow. No worries!

It's well within the boundaries. I'm using onX hunting maps to determine land ownership. (https://www.onxmaps.com) It's a great resource and I'm surprised it isn't mentioned much around here. The property that this particular site sits on is 166 acres and it's right in the center of it. There is also a forest service gate, just south of the site, but still well inside of the property lines, and the road beyond it is a popular off roading spot. A good section of the road is also on the property and it's for public use by highway legal vehicles.

Here's a capture from the app. The owners' names are blurred for their privacy.

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

Patented mineral land probably. You can bet those types of parcels cover the historical mining areas.

 

[Mine Shaft]

That's it Hamfist. So that's all PP inside that orange line ? Those pics i took are Texas hill.

 

[Lanny in AB]

As you've asked for tips, here's a few for old hydraulic workings:

If there's any bedrock ledges, hardpan, concreted gravel that slowed or stopped the flow of water as the wall was being cut away and the slurry ran downslope, be sure to check those with a metal detector, or work samples with a pan if you have water handy.

Anything that slows the flow will allow the gold to drop, including a harder layer of material, protruding boulders, etc. that resisted the hydraulic action. (This is an important point for hydraulic workings when the mining was stopped before the gold ran out.)

Hydraulic mining was not greatly efficient when the slurry was running its way to the collection sluice/sluices, so lots of gold dropped; moreover, if the miners were forced to stop (which it sounds like they were), that may be why nugget shooters have been seen working the site.

I've recovered some nice gold from old hydraulic workings, especially from areas like I've listed above. In addition, if there's any fractured bedrock (lots of time the bedrock will be covered with a layer of clay-slump you'll have to clear off [nasty work]), be sure to break the bedrock to get down into the cracks.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[Mine Shaft]

Thank you Lanny for that info. I will not go into that place until i find out if i can.

 

[Lanny in AB]

Thank you Lanny for that info. I will not go into that place until i find out if i can.

Of course not, always have permission as you well know, but if you get permission and the chance to go, now you'll have an idea or two (from others as well) of some tactics.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

Additionally, don’t let an area littered with nails discourage you. They had to take the sluice boxes apart when they cleaned up. Nails were lost, rocks (and nuggets) were scooped out of the box using hoes and pronged rakes. These areas sometimes produce nice nuggets.

 

[Hamfist]

That's it Hamfist. So that's all PP inside that orange line ? Those pics i took are Texas hill.

Yeah, inside the line is someone’s property :/

 

[Goldwasher]

The mine wasn't known for nuggets.

They found a few but they were pretty small and very rare.

The deposit being washed makes a series of low gravel hills locally. Similar ones are found at the mouth of many of the canyons in the area.

The veins that the values are eroded from don't have a lot of free milling values. That create out crops eroding large gold. There can be quite a bit of small gold and it can be chunky/fresh

There can be nuggets though.i've heard of most of them coming from up canyon.

The areas hydro mined, were done so because it made mining the gravel worth it. However the old timers that tried in this area may disagree.

The area in the past had some fast deposition events... yet slow erosion. The paylayers didn't form well. there can be gold disperse within the whole gravel deposit.

Theres a reason it's patented..yet they never ran a static wash plant.

If it held a lot of value there would be a gravel company there. Just sayin'.

They were able to produce about 90 to 100 ounces a week. but, they washed a lot of gravel to do that and it was short lived. The owner did lose a court case shut down. And as I mentioned he didn't try to process in another way. Those could be high or low reported numbers.

You have to wonder.. was he inflating for investors...or under reporting what was coming out of the ground?

I spent a lot of time in Lytle creek when I was a teen and just getting into prospecting. Holcomb Valley was too far and dry.

I grew up in Riverside county. Had a list of places like this I went to whenever I could. The bummer was always the fact that it was Socal and hundreds if not thousands of other people visit these sites. old Gravel banks and waste piles make great backdrops for target shooting.

Was still fun to go explore and I did cut my teeth rockhounding and prospecting there.

Gold is still there have fun exploring. Use mylandmatters to help look for open areas nearby to explore.

There are dozens(and more) of small gullies cutting those gravel hills that don't get much attention. I would be focusing there.

 

[Mine Shaft]

Thank you for that info Goldwasher, i thought about sampling in the gullies.