just to wet

[1637]

i wonder how long it will be before i can go dry washing in the mojave desert.i dug down three feet and its just to wet. brad

 

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[G-bone]

Gonna be a while...
I was out at Garlock area last week and the ground is pretty well soaked.
And more storms on the way.
But lots of new soil unearthed, so the storms are welcome.

 

[rodoconnor]

Some of the canyons in the Mojave will have flowing water until May. Get out the sluice boxes.

 

[russau]

Why not erect a large tent and dig your material and then dry it out on a piece of tin that's over a fire to dry it and then into your DW. When I was in New Mexico years back at Christmas time. the ground was damp deeper in the ground so I layed out the tin sheet and l shoveled the next days material onto it. the next day it was dry enough to run , BUT I reran it 2x to make sure it was dry enough! It worked for me.

 

[Terry Soloman]

In the winter we use tarps during the day to dry out our paydirt, by spreading it out over them to let the moisture evaporate. I have seen some guys build stone drying ovens next to their campfires, where they turn the paydirt until they sack out. Gotta do what you gotta do.

 

[Hard Prospector]

I too went out to work my claims last week near (Randsburg) and couldn't believe how much rain and snow the area has gotten in the past 2 months. Looking north west by north east, the southern Sierra Nevada, Argus, Inyo and Panamint mountains were blanketed in snow down to 4000'.......just beautiful. Standing water all over my claim got me wishing that a power sluice was in the back of the truck instead of the drywasher. Started punching in holes with the off chance I just mighthit something dry enough to run......no frick'n chance. One hole that I dug was 4' deep by 4' wide and started to seeing water seeping into the bottom!

Brought sheets of plastic along just in case as I've seen this show before but not nearly so much saturation of desert dirt. More like mud than damp dirt it wouldn't hardly shake through a 1/4 screen. After busting my @ss all day I finally got about 1/2 yard of this nasty material spread out on the plastic, if I didn't know there was gold in this spot I wouldn't have messed with it. It slowly started to dry-out on the plastic but took constant spreading around with the rake and froze over night. After all that work, I ended up having to haul the material home to power sluice cause it just couldn't dry out enough for the puffer.

Considering the way things are in the high desert of the Mojave right now, I wouldn't be surprised if it takes till fall before much of this area dries out enough for drywashing to be practical.

 

[rodoconnor]

H. P That is very likely. In the Randsburg area there are probably a lot of little dredge ponds scsattered about. I have used them to dredge and highbank. I'm sure F&G would ticket you for endangering the rare Mojave Steelhead

 

[Hard Prospector]

H. P That is very likely. In the Randsburg area there are probably a lot of little dredge ponds scsattered about. I have used them to dredge and highbank. I'm sure F&G would ticket you for endangering the rare Mojave Steelhead[/QUOT

"Mojave Steelhead"........Ha Ha Ha Ha, thats a good one pal! There certainly is plenty of gold on most claims in and around the Rand/El Paso Mtns. to float a dredge, thats for sure.

 

[Goodyguy]

You could try winnowing like the old timers did before drywashers were invented.


Last time I went I felt I spent too much time and effort to get the dirt dry enough to run so I just gave up and went md'ing for nuggets instead.
Damp ground allows your detector to achieve a little deeper penetration.

GG~

 

[goldenIrishman]

Don't feel alone 1637! It's still one step removed from mud on my side of the Mohave. Damp enough to make classifying a PITA if I decided to go out and get some samples to run thru the re-circ. More on the way too.

 

[blindpig]

Hi all,. yeah,. It's wet out there . My last trip out there ,. 3 weeks ago ? I anticipated it to be damp ,. found it soaked ! But ,. I had made other plains ,. detect and look over some new ground .
I like the idea's here,. I've read about the "sheet-tin over the fire" ,. never done it ,. would work for sure . I really like the idea of dredg'n & highbanking out in the El Paso's . I've "highbanked" on the old Otto Adem's claim ,. 25 yr's ago ,. I should kick myself for never taking a dredge up there !! All that flat gold just lay'n there on that ruff-ass lava-rock ,. held there ever so delicatelly [?] with a bit of clay !! LORD ,. I need to kick myself AGAIN !!
Anyway ,. that was then and this is now ,. I'll stick to detect'n ,. a bit of vac-pack'n ,. for a time ..... ?

BUT THE BLOOM THIS SPRING ,.maybe like you never seen before,. It's going to be a SPECTACULAR one ,. your going to love it ,.I'm tell'n ya ,.
TRU... errr ,. PIG

 

[1637]

what is winnowing?thanks brad

You could try winnowing like the old timers did before drywashers were invented.


Last time I went I felt I spent too much time and effort to get the dirt dry enough to run so I just gave up and went md'ing for nuggets instead.
Damp ground allows your detector to achieve a little deeper penetration.

GG~

 

[russau]

Winnowing is when you let the air dry your material by putting it on a sheet of something and 2 guys flip it up-n-down on this sheet to dry it out. Old timers used to do this!

 

[Goodyguy]

what is winnowing?
thanks brad

Winnowing as I understand it was the original form of dry washing for gold.



It was crude and inefficient, but also inexpensive.
After pay dirt was dug, it was pulverized and placed on a blanket or canvas. It was then thrown into the air in order to allow the wind to blow away lighter elements and to let the heavier gold dust fall back onto the blanket.

Winnowing was originally an old agricultural procedure, and was reported to first be used by gold miners in 1842 near the Pueblo of Los Angeles in the San Feliciano Canyon.

GG~

 

[arizau]

what is winnowing?thanks brad

Ever heard the term "separating the wheat from the chaff"? Old time farmers without equipment would simply put the thrashed wheat on a blanket or whatever and toss it into the air and allow the wind to blow off the dried seed husks and stems (chaff). The miners used the same method to blow off the dust and it worked reasonably well providing the material was already pretty much pulverized and bone dry. Some drying would take place with winnowing but probably no more than rerunning the tails through the dry washer a few times. That can be done alone!

Good luck.

 

[1637]

i knew they did that.but i didnt know what they called it. thanks brad

 

[Hard Prospector]

I suppose you might say "winnowing" was the first method of drywashing..... Man could you imagine the filth those two fellas ate throwing that dirt up in the air over and over again especially if the wind kept swirling. If there was any poison oak leaves or roots in the mix that would that suck! (pun intended)

 

[1637]

dug 5 feet thursday no dry dirt.just used a detector and a gold pan with a little water ,no gold oh well. brad

 

[Hard Prospector]

More rain tonight and tomorrow at my so called "desert" claims while my drywasher is groaning to get some action.......crap!

 

[1637]

has anyone been digging out in the mojave this weekend,any dry dirt yet??
thanks brad