I have a golden question..

[SchoolOfHardRocks]

Given the low water levels from the CA drought.. would it be more profitable to dig at the water line (areas that are normally under water) or higher up on the banks (where more gold tends to accumulate)?

I'm sure that the answer is circumstancial, but any advice would be nice.

I'm currently working an area on the north fork american that has been heavily mined/ dredged.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

A History of Mining on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska - Grab it through Amazon!

[goldenmojo]

Sample. Sampling is the work and working the pay area is the fun.

 

[ALewis]

I'm anxious to check a spot or two in the water on the NF of American, figure levels should get low enough that it'll be possible until next winter....Will prospect that while I can.....

I have had my best day's working up at the high water line, pretty far from current flow, but figure can't miss the opportunity to get wet and see what's down there !!! Figure if my samples don't produce, I can always go back up the hillside....

 

[TheGoldProspector]

Sample. Sampling is the work and working the pay area is the fun.

Hope all is well Mojo

 

[SchoolOfHardRocks]

Thanks for the advice. I have never truely "sampled" an area like i should. I always get too giddy and start digging as soon as i see some good color in a sample pan. From what i hear, i need to continue sampling because there can be an even better gold deposit around.

I think I'm with you ALewis... I am finding stuff at the water line, even a couple pickers. So i'm going to continue working there until the water rises. Then i can always see whats up the bank. Never know how long it will be until the water gets this low again..

 

[goldog]

would it be more profitable to dig at the water line (areas that are normally under water) or higher up on the banks (where more gold tends to accumulate)?..."

...I have never truly "sampled" an area like i should. I always get too giddy and start digging as soon as i see some good color in a sample pan. From what i hear, i need to continue sampling because there can be an even better gold deposit around.

Based on your first quote I'd' say higher up because you state more gold accumulates there. OTOH, I'd say you should sample because real prospectors don't dig "giddily"

 

[SchoolOfHardRocks]

Based on your first quote I'd' say higher up because you state more gold accumulates there. OTOH, I'd say you should sample because real prospectors don't dig "giddily"

Lol good point... I guess it's hard because i live about a 2 hour drive from the river. So once i'm there i just want to dig. But i suppose i should listen to you guys who know what your doing and get my sample on!

 

[TheGoldProspector]

Lol good point... I guess it's hard because i live about a 2 hour drive from the river. So once i'm there i just want to dig. But i suppose i should listen to you guys who know what your doing and get my sample on!

Good slogan indeed . May your pans be heavier this next time around

 

[SchoolOfHardRocks]

Good slogan indeed . May your pans be heavier this next time around

Thanks man, and we still gotta get out there and find the stuff together one of these day's. let me know when you're free!

 

[goldenmojo]

All is well. Just had much to take care of and had the bronchial thing which slowed my hiking ability down. Went sampling on the 4th . ALewis the water on the NF is dropping into the 40's already. It was low like January low the other day and everything is workable. Should be a trickle in two weeks. PM on the way.

 

[TheGoldProspector]

Thanks man, and we still gotta get out there and find the stuff together one of these day's. let me know when you're free!

Im free on sun/mondays

 

[Clay Diggins]

More than 60% of the mineable gold from the tertiary gravels has never been touched. That's according to a massive 9 year study by the State of California geologists in the 1960s. All of that gold is in deposits well above the river level. The bars were worked by huge dredges and diversion dams in the 1880s. If you want to get the good gold you are going to have to get above the river.

Study the known tertiary gravel deposits and spot where they are exposed on the hilltops and slopes. Find out where the claims aren't and the gold is and you are in for a true bonanza.

Stay away from the water. The easy stuff left over from the 1880s was already dredged up by the likes of Hoser John and myself years ago. I lost a boot on the North Fork 40 something years ago. You have a better chance of finding that boot digging on the bank of the river than you do of finding a good gold deposit there.

Heavy Pans

 

[azblackbird]

Study the known tertiary gravel deposits and spot where they are exposed on the hilltops and slopes. Find out where the claims aren't and the gold is and you are in for a true bonanza.

Bingo!

 

[Hoser John]

Fish cops will give ya a nice fat ticket for diggn' into the banks along the waterline. It's called riparian habitat and a HUGE no no. Mindless bureauratz bs but a mans gotta do what a mans gotta do. Be careful that's all. Plenty of gold in them rivers BUT deep waters and steep vertical cliffs are the reason. Detect the highbar if possible as them ancient teritary river beds are where it's at now to reduce cops bs-Perfect example is the SF YUBA between Purdone/Edwards as the ancient Yuba river a gold channel cuts through and we've gotten many MANY pounds outta that section,just 1 a many places that homework will provide-John--Purdone bridge-check out the size a them monster boulders,sooooooo fun to move

 

[SchoolOfHardRocks]

I appreciate the advice... up the bank i go! I don't own a detector yet but i will definitely start doing some research on those tertiary gravel deposits. I don't know what they look like but will find out.

So first i need to do some online research on where they are located, and then visually locate them? I guess at that point i begin digging and lugging buckets down to the water to sluice?....after sampling of course

 

[Clay Diggins]

I know it's pretty flat around Manteca SchoolOfHardRocks but when you get up in the Tertiary gravels everything is at right angles to where you live.

The unworked gold bearing Tertiary gravels are almost by definition far from an easy source of water. A better solution than killing yourself hauling buckets to a sluice that might be miles and thousands of feet in elevation away is to learn to get the gold where you find it.

It's a common mistake for new prospectors to get all wrapped up in their favorite method of mining. Sluicing is fun compared to most other forms of mining. You've got a nice burbling creek and plenty of shade nearby, the ground is fairly level and the equipment is light and quick to set up. It's more like a weekend camping party than real work. I can certainly appreciate sluicing for all it's good points, wish we could do more of it here in the desert.

The fact of the matter is that you will always need to adapt your method of mining to the deposit. Taking a sluice or dredge into the desert isn't going to do me any good when there is no water. People are often impressed at how much good gold comes out of the desert in Arizona. The big secret seems to be that California still has a lot more available gold than all our deserts will ever produce. You just have to go where the gold is and mine it in the most efficient way possible. That's always been the case, gold is where you find it - an inconvenient truth sometimes but a truth nonetheless.

If you want to get good gold you have to find it before you can figure out how to mine it. Digging the same ground that's been dug a thousand times before by other prospectors won't find you the big strike. Looking on the inside of the bend or behind the big boulder on a California gold bearing river has been thought of, and done, before you got there.

If you are happy with what was left behind by the last 10 prospectors then please continue sluicing those spots, as I said, it makes for a pleasant camping trip. There is nothing wrong with enjoying your weekend and getting a little gold to boot.

Prospecting is the act of looking for gold. Bringing mining tools, and methods, to a prospecting expedition is a sure way to guarantee you won't be coming home with a full poke. If you are driven to find that big strike you will have to move uphill. It's still out there for those willing to do the research and the work.

Heavy Pans

 

[Fullpan]

I worked 10% of a huge gravel bar back in my nooby days. It was mostly flood gold , but I averaged about 2 dwt/day. The thing I didn't know then, was in summertime, the whole bar dried out in the sun, and a drywasher would have been the Best Available Technology to use. I killed myself hauling buckets to the water.

 

[MadMarshall]

HOW MUCH GOLD DOES THE RIVER MOVE? Clay makes some awesome points.. For me Sampling is the way to go.. I am always walking and rewalking areas my nose close to bedrock. Not uncommon for me to spend 4 hours in walk time alone. Hit lesser known trails, steeper grades things, that will discourage most men. As for higher or lower well often I find that when I am in a decent paying spot usually it can be traced bot ways? Its funny I always hear about these imaginary pay lines of gold in the river that go in a pretty much straight line following the inside bends ect ect... But all my experience on the river seems to contradict that.. Though I can say I have found pay lines that travel down from higher up the hill that lead to the river.. Some very distinct... Gold seems to be localized in a sense and this would seem to contradict the river moving gold..(in amounts that even matter) now extreme flooding and other rare events yes but how many events have you seen in your life time? Anyway I have been watching prospector jess and a few others on how they think gold moves and their advice on such matter and the more I watch and listen the more I wonder how much Actual hands on prospecting experience these men have... Now I aint here to argue on the what they say I am just here to say that we aint working virgins.. So these things about the inside bends and behind big rocks and whole slew of other stuff just doesn't hold true.. Maybe if the rivers were untampered and gold was allowed to move as it did once in the past.. But now it's a different ballgame. But anyway I wish you luck in your pursuit..

 

[Armchair prospector]

I agree with you on how gold moves. In a major flood you see the water go past the inside bend and slam against the outside bend before it moves on. If gold is following the path, you may check that outside area where it slammed into. Your videos are great to watch. I like to post them on my facebook page and put them out there for all my non gold mining friends. Bedrock is where it is at. Checking bedrock way above the water level is not a bad idea either as most like to be closer to the water.