Massive Tailings

Aufisher · Nov 9, 2015

Took a ride around Folsom today. Here is an example of the many tailings piles that were dredged from the American River

. Nice place to explore. You can also see hydraulic diggins along the North side of the river.

Aufisher · Nov 10, 2015

I was at the bar in Folsom Hotel. I told the guy next to me I was exhausted from mining all day. He said "there's gold around here"? I wanted to laugh and spit my beer but knowing I am an ambassador for all miners I told him this hotel and town were built on gold and from gold. The guy was no spring chicken either.

GoldpannerDave · Nov 10, 2015

goldenmojo said:
I believe they missed dredging under Mather AFB as the land was taken over by the government in 1918.

Yeah, but I don't think they will let you dredge under the airport today, either.

Well, Kalifornia won't let you dredge anyway, but if you could, you would not be allowed. Catch-22.

goldenmojo · Nov 10, 2015

No dredging but the "gravel companies" have worked right up to the fence....

KevinInColorado · Nov 11, 2015

We have those kind of "gravel companies' here in CO too. (Evil grin)

KevinInColorado · Nov 11, 2015

GoldpannerDave said:
Forgot to mention, it is now $5 a week or $35 a year instead of $5 a year.

Wow, I see that now. That's a big change from just a couple years ago!
http://fairplayco.us/docsforms/2015_Gold_Panning_permit_application.pdf
Still a good deal and I wish more mountain towns (Breckenridge, Silverthorne, etc) would do this too instead of chasing us out of town. Gotta make it easy for the visitors to find a little wild gold

This is something I'm going to work on once I'm retired!

NorCalPilot · Nov 11, 2015

I've flown over that dredge in the Yuba Gold Fields countless times, as Beale is my home field. Not much luck on the South Yuba beneath the Hwy 20 bridge, however.

russau · Nov 11, 2015

Sand and Gravel permits are the EZest /cheapest permits to get! hint hint!

goldenmojo · Nov 11, 2015

Especially if your California contractors license number is 8......

GoldpannerDave · Nov 11, 2015

KevinInColorado said:
We have those kind of "gravel companies' here in CO too. (Evil grin)

Yep, I think they are still the #1 producer of placer gold in Colorado. Someone, maybe it was you, Kevin, was telling me of a friend they knew that had gotten rights to work the cons from a local Denver gravel company. I cannot recall if they paid to put some gravity separator in the gravel company's wash plant or what, but that would be a nice concession to have.

GoldpannerDave · Nov 11, 2015

KevinInColorado said:
Wow, I see that now. That's a big change from just a couple years ago!
http://fairplayco.us/docsforms/2015_Gold_Panning_permit_application.pdf
Still a good deal and I wish more mountain towns (Breckenridge, Silverthorne, etc) would do this too instead of chasing us out of town. Gotta make it easy for the visitors to find a little wild gold This is something I'm going to work on once I'm retired!

Yes, and the rules are now much more stringent. No hand dredges no batteries/electric pumps; $2650 fine if you alter/damage infrastructure of the Fairplay "Beach" etc, etc.

cazisme · Nov 11, 2015

At Mather the tailings piles are on the North side of the Runway. Used to be many ponds and piles in the area. Tons of Ducks in those ponds.

Aufisher · Nov 11, 2015

Tailings provide excellent habitat for many creatures

arizau · Nov 11, 2015

KevinInColorado said:
That dredge is currently running in Columbia from what some locals told me 3 years ago!

Sadly all those pretty rock piles are on private land so no-touch. :-(

Happily there's more piles just upstream on the other side of the highway that are owned by the town. $5/year permit from FairPlay town hall gives you full access (no gasoline engines there though).

I can remember driving through Fairplay, probably in the early 70's (?), and seeing what I thought to be a dredge floating in a pond, mostly masked from view by trees (cottonwoods?), off of Hwy 285. Memories fade but I remember it as being just N of town. Is that the one you are referring to? I have only traveled that route a few times since but I don't remember ever seeing it again.

KevinInColorado · Nov 11, 2015

GoldpannerDave said:
Yep, I think they are still the #1 producer of placer gold in Colorado. Someone, maybe it was you, Kevin, was telling me of a friend they knew that had gotten rights to work the cons from a local Denver gravel company. I cannot recall if they paid to put some gravity separator in the gravel company's wash plant or what, but that would be a nice concession to have.

Yes, I know a guy...he has about 30 employees and buys the heavies washed out of construction sand and such. Last I heard he had contracts with well over a dozen sand and gravel ops that are along the front range and in the mountains. He does all the finish processing at a facility in Commerce City (just north of Denver) and contracts out the smelting to a guy in Fort Collins. Colorado gold baby!!

I don't know him well, he's more the friend of a friend but we've spent the day together digging and such.

KevinInColorado · Nov 11, 2015

arizau said:
I can remember driving through Fairplay, probably in the early 70's (?), and seeing what I thought to be a dredge floating in a pond, mostly masked from view by trees (cottonwoods?), off of Hwy 285. Memories fade but I remember it as being just N of town. Is that the one you are referring to? I have only traveled that route a few times since but I don't remember ever seeing it again.

Yes the Snowstorm Dredge is the one North of town. Technically it's now a wash plant since the bucket line is long gone. They most recently fed it with an excavator. It's still there but tough to see more than the top of the stacker where it sits today. They drained it's pond so it's now about 15' lower!They ran it briefly in the early 80's when gold prices spiked. Now those guys sell their heavies to the guy with the Commerce City operation and he takes it from there [emoji106][emoji2]

I got to tour the Snowstorm a couple few years ago. It's in a lot better shape than the mess Tony Beets rescued but no one wants to pay a million bucks for it so it sits. The town of FairPlay wants to adopt it as a tourist attraction but things move slowly up there...

GoldpannerDave · Nov 11, 2015

arizau said:
I can remember driving through Fairplay, probably in the early 70's (?), and seeing what I thought to be a dredge floating in a pond, mostly masked from view by trees (cottonwoods?), off of Hwy 285. Memories fade but I remember it as being just N of town. Is that the one you are referring to? I have only traveled that route a few times since but I don't remember ever seeing it again.

Yes, KevinInColorado gave you some details. Here is a nice shot of the Snowstorm Dredge.

GoldpannerDave · Nov 11, 2015

KevinInColorado said:
Yes, I know a guy...he has about 30 employees and buys the heavies washed out of construction sand and such. Last I heard he had contracts with well over a dozen sand and gravel ops that are along the front range and in the mountains. He does all the finish processing at a facility in Commerce City (just north of Denver) and contracts out the smelting to a guy in Fort Collins. Colorado gold baby!!

I don't know him well, he's more the friend of a friend but we've spent the day together digging and such.

I thought I got the information from you. Thanks for confirming/correcting the story.

CApicker · Nov 12, 2015

Anybody wonder why the gravel companies have locked down on all these tailings? I hear a rumor that the Chineese want to purchase all of the Yuba Gold Feild talings so that they can re-proccess many more pressious metals out of them than the Gold Rush folks cared about or knew about. There is so much more in CA tailings done to early... Last time I went up on HWY 20 to Parks bar I got followed out of the tailing mountains just after getting into them to take a peek... They watch them like there is Gold in them tailings or somthing! :laughing7:

SunshineMiner · Oct 30, 2016

Hey guys, I know this is an older thread... But the tailing piles that are west of Marysville... The Hammonton/Marigold dredge fields, does anyone know anyone thats done detecting out there? Heard of anyone doing it? I've been back in there for a couple fires(its nice getting to see all sorts of different terrain XD) over a couple different years. Its always interesting to see all those dredge ponds and tailings. Makes for precarious footing and god awful mop-up of a veg fire. Always wanted to get out there and try. Its currently a recreation area, people drive their 4x4s, camp and all sorts of stuff back in there and pretty secluded so i dont see it being that big of a problem

Also... Same thing for the tailings near Snelling along the Merced river :P