M & M Mining the Northern Sierras

[N-Lionberger]

Grandmas patented claim in Trinity co, interesting place there is hardly any gold to be found on top lots of heavy overburden to deal with lots of boulders. My claim is in Sierra co out by Alleghany.

 

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[mikep691]

With this stretch of dry weather, I'm gettin' an itch to dig.

 

[N-Lionberger]

It's been fairly rainy here but I am pretty close to the ocean. There are some lower spots on the Trinity I'm going to hit soon rain or no rain now my shop move is mostly done with.

 

[mikep691]

With cold but dry weather the past few weeks, I've been trying to form a game plan at the claim. I'm thinkin' with a little help, I want to hit the area that I know will have good gold, and do a test on some virgin ground near where my first season dry hole was. So Memorial weekend, which is the kick start to our season, will be set up where the good gold will be, work it a full day, then jump upstream and out of the creek to run a five bucket test, about 10 cubic feet, load them in the truck and set up my old faithful sluice in the creek. This will likely only take me away from the gold for a half day.

If the test is successful, I'll need to buy more hose to set up the highbanker closer to the dig. Ain't no fun carting buckets to the creek.
down
The old timers back in the day washed most of the reveins(sp) down, and I can almost envision where the long toms were. They left virgin dirt near the top of every one.. Not sure why. Maybe they just couldn't get the water far enough, or they were at a cut off point of color. There's only one way to find out. If the color warrants it, I'll need the good gold to pay for the new gold.

Come on May!!!!

 

[N-Lionberger]

I have ravines on my claim that were mined my the old timers by booming, they built a dam higher up and sluice at the bottom, when they had a nice supply of water boom they let er rip. Lots of dirt left.

 

[mikep691]

I have ravines on my claim that were mined my the old timers by booming, they built a dam higher up and sluice at the bottom, when they had a nice supply of water boom they let er rip. Lots of dirt left.

That could be what they were doing. Lots of old piping strewn throughout, but no real evidence of damming.

 

[KevinInColorado]

That could be what they were doing. Lots of old piping strewn throughout, but no real evidence of damming.

The dams were often made of logs. Might have rotted, been burned, or dragged off for reuse by now.

 

[mikep691]

The dams were often made of logs. Might have rotted, been burned, or dragged off for reuse by now.

We have plenty of logs, but they're scattered all over the forest floor. The FS roads are pretty close to the virgin ground but may have been wagon trails in the day, or not there at all. It's been six years since I last worked in the area so more investigation is needed.

 

[Silveraith]

Hi Mike. Looks like our thread was removed. I don't know if it was moved to another folder or closed. It was done without notice. Good luck to you.

 

[mikep691]

click your thread it will take you to the new location

 

[Silveraith]

xxxxx

 

[mikep691]

Feel free to keep it off my thread if you would please. It just does not apply here.

 

[mikep691]

So far a month with no rain or snow, mild afternoon temps well above freezing though mornings have been very chilly. Looks like if another week of the same, I may be able to get to the claim earlier than expected. I'm hoping at least. I may be able to do some virgin dirt testing before the planned Memorial Weekend kick off for the season. I already know where the gold is in the creek, but love to have more options this coming season.

 

[mikep691]

With all this crap going on, and funds shortages, I haven't made it the claim. Until this weekend, that is. It will be a shorter Memorial weekend trip. The goal is to prospect some virgin dirt at the top of a dry wash. We're going totally old school for this with only my old sluice and a bunch of buckets. This wash is the same wash that I dug a four foot deep test hole in. It produced small but chunky gold seven years ago, so I'm hoping this virgin dirt has the same or better values. We'll see. I'm hoping the old timers left something behind for me to find.

 

[mikep691]

The weekend at the claim was pretty good, camping wise, but the virgin dirt testing, not so much. It started out being just myself and one of my room renters for the weekend, but late in the day Saturday, my mining partner made an appearance. Here's a few pics of the campsite:





I bought a new tent, well, condo, but in my usual style of forgetting something, I left my air mattress at home.

 

[Reed Lukens]

Air mattress? Darn Glampers anyway
Looks like a nice camp. Did you bring in the firewood or is that from Claim Clean up?

 

[mikep691]

Air mattress? Darn Glampers anyway
Looks like a nice camp. Did you bring in the firewood or is that from Claim Clean up?

Always claim clean up. We bucked some rounds from a fall last summer, and removed a skinny oak. Just doing our part to save our forest from the next fire. We did bring in a bought bundle for fire starter. Rockguy had left some wood from his visit last week, but with a few storms rolling through, everything was pretty wet. Fire control/suppression is always part of our claim maintenance as well.

 

[Reed Lukens]

We do the same
Clear the road, take down the dead wood, etc. But... last year a homeless guy burned up all of our extra firewood that we had covered... not a big deal, he needed it more then we did... It was when he started burning our shower stand and kitchen that got him ousted

 

[mikep691]

Air mattress? Darn Glampers anyway
Looks like a nice camp. Did you bring in the firewood or is that from Claim Clean up?

When you're basically sleeping on old hydraulic tailings, the air mattress is required.

 

[Reed Lukens]

I was joking
You've seen mine right? We're all out glampers, kitchen, hot showers, the works. Not trying to spam your page here
When your out camping all summer, it has to be comfortable for the ladies, or else...