M & M Mining the Northern Sierras

Goldwasher

Gold Member
May 26, 2009
6,077
13,222
Sailor Flat, Ca.
🥇 Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
SDC2300, Gold Bug 2 Burlap, fish oil, .35 gallons of water per minute.
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting

N-Lionberger

Bronze Member
Dec 1, 2013
1,359
1,950
Arcata, California
Detector(s) used
Fisher 1212-x
Fisher Gold Bug 2
Whites 4900/SP3
Dowsing rods
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
Glamping? I like clamping. Building a little trailer up to hold not much more than some storage and a queen size mattress, I'm ready to retire my cot.
 

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mikep691

Hero Member
Aug 6, 2015
857
1,755
Northeastern Sierra's
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Rockguy now has I think they call them Overlander tents. Mounted on top of his Jeep Cherokee. Takes about 15 minutes to set up. It has it's own pad and they leave their sleeping bags in it and just fold it up when ready to leave. Kinda neat.
 

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mikep691

Hero Member
Aug 6, 2015
857
1,755
Northeastern Sierra's
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Heading back to the claim for some midweek action. I'm bringing along some relatives to try to give the fever to. They're young and strong enough to help move the pump for this old man. Should be fun...
 

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mikep691

Hero Member
Aug 6, 2015
857
1,755
Northeastern Sierra's
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Here's some sad news: The fires have claimed a new victim. Our mining claim has burned. The Claremont fire ripped across 12,000 acres and the claim was in the middle of it. We are not able to get to it, with the forest closed and highway and roads are closed as well. All of our equipment was still in place and has likely been destroyed. It will likely be late Fall before we can assess the destruction.
 

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mikep691

Hero Member
Aug 6, 2015
857
1,755
Northeastern Sierra's
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
A bit of good news: the area in the forest where my claim is will not be in the forest closure. This means once the fire is out, and the roads are back open, I'll be able to go to the claim to survey the damage. The fire at this time is at 60% containment so it's still going to be a while before I can access the area. The daily mapping updates do show hot spots on my claim.
 

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mikep691

Hero Member
Aug 6, 2015
857
1,755
Northeastern Sierra's
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
A change in wind direction yesterday has caused the fire to jump containment lines on the west side of the fire. Containment has dropped from near 60% to 47% this morning. While the wind shift provided a day of clear skies over Sierra Valley for the first time in weeks, it's not good for firefighters. Over 24,000 acres have burned in the Claremont fire and neighboring Bear fire has burned nearly 12,000 acres. At least this time these fires were lightning caused unlike the Minerva fire a few years ago. We're all hoping for some rain soon.
 

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mikep691

Hero Member
Aug 6, 2015
857
1,755
Northeastern Sierra's
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
The North Complex fire which is the Claremont and Bear fires combined, as swelled to nearly 319,000 acres. The forest closure was substantially expanded. With fire activity ongoing, it doesn't look like I'll be able to access the claim until next spring.
 

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mikep691

Hero Member
Aug 6, 2015
857
1,755
Northeastern Sierra's
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I talked to the Plumas National Forest rep yesterday. She said we might be able to go with fire escort in a few weeks. She also said we should be removing all our equipment anytime we are not there, without a POO. We were there for two weeks, then needed to restock and were going back in three days. Then fire. I don't believe a POO is required when you're working an active claim just to leave your equipment. But that's the FS view.
 

N-Lionberger

Bronze Member
Dec 1, 2013
1,359
1,950
Arcata, California
Detector(s) used
Fisher 1212-x
Fisher Gold Bug 2
Whites 4900/SP3
Dowsing rods
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
You own the minerals, you need to remove all those minerals as with your equipment
 

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mikep691

Hero Member
Aug 6, 2015
857
1,755
Northeastern Sierra's
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Here it is, New Years Eve. We were never able to get to the claim to assess the damage (if any), and now it's snow season. Depending on Mother Nature, we won't see the claim until at least April. I'm still holding onto the thought that the fire just crowned over the claim which would have spared our equipment, but preparing for the worse case scenario that everything was lost. So far this winter season, we've had some decent snowfall and it's still early in the season.

This off season, I have some modifications planned for the sluice. I upgraded it last year from 1 1/2" to 2'. This year I'm adding 3/8" punch plate to cover the top two riffles. This should provide a nugget trap and keep the larger gravels from dislodging the gold beneath. I'm also adding longer legs so I can fit a five gallon bucket under the tail end of the box for clean outs.

This past month has been a tough one for me. I've been fighting a serious infection and am now on my third round of antibiotics. I'm hoping this round will get me back to some sort of normal (if there is such a thing this past year).

Now for something I never do: A New Years Resolution. I resolve to get my old bones in better shape after a year of lockdown and sitting on my duff through most of it. I'll eat better and be more active. I'll start out just walking around the park, then as the weather begins to improve, I'll start on the community garden. I'll be tilling in two more beds and hopefully get it planted earlier than last year. I'll also have my gold panning gig next year and hope the income from that will pay for any equipment that may have been lost from the fire.

I find the need to put 2020 in the past and look to better things in the coming year and hope that everybody can do the same.
 

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mytimetoshine

Bronze Member
Jun 23, 2013
1,574
3,370
El Dorado County
Detector(s) used
GRIZZLY GOLD TRAP - ANGUS MACKIRK EXPLORER- BLUE BOWL - GOLD CUBE, MINELAB PRO 25 PINPOINTER-
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Hey Mike! Happy New Years to you. Hopefully the fire didnt take out your gear. And maybe it exposed something nice for you!
 

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mikep691

Hero Member
Aug 6, 2015
857
1,755
Northeastern Sierra's
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Back at ya Erik. If anything, I'm hoping it makes the 1/4 mile hike to my new dig site easier. I'm hoping for the best, but expecting the worst.
 

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mikep691

Hero Member
Aug 6, 2015
857
1,755
Northeastern Sierra's
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Looks like I missed the narrow window to get to the claim. With 3" falling overnight, spitting and sputtering all day, still fighting this infection it's just in the cards to venture far from my blanket. So, with sights unseen, and expecting the worse, I've decided to upgrade from the current 2" to 3" "power sluice". If I have to replace hoses, it just makes sense. The canyon here is quite narrow so I'll fabricate an adjustable stand for the pump. If anyone has a 12"-14" wide by 48" long sluice they could part with, let me know.
 

N-Lionberger

Bronze Member
Dec 1, 2013
1,359
1,950
Arcata, California
Detector(s) used
Fisher 1212-x
Fisher Gold Bug 2
Whites 4900/SP3
Dowsing rods
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
Hell yeah Mike go big or go home, you will be amazed how much more material you can move with the 3" vs the 2". On the sluice end of things I HIGHLY recommend using a flare type header, you can make one from a traffic safety cone for a 3" it takes all the bubbles out and slows the flow nicely lets the fines drop.
 

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mikep691

Hero Member
Aug 6, 2015
857
1,755
Northeastern Sierra's
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Hell yeah Mike go big or go home, you will be amazed how much more material you can move with the 3" vs the 2". On the sluice end of things I HIGHLY recommend using a flare type header, you can make one from a traffic safety cone for a 3" it takes all the bubbles out and slows the flow nicely lets the fines drop.

Hmmmmm. Hadn't thought about that. I figured temporarily to just use the header box from the 2" until I could fab a new one.
 

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mikep691

Hero Member
Aug 6, 2015
857
1,755
Northeastern Sierra's
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I waited until today. I just opened Google Earth and zoomed in on my claim. Imagery was updated to Oct. 2020, after the fire. Sad. It looks like my claim was totally burned. This means all our equipment is a total loss. With this info, I'll start to build a 3". If anybody has a 12x48" sluice they want to part with, let me know.
 

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