Capt Nemo
Bronze Member
Just got back. Wasn't too bad of a trip, but the 91 degrees and 3mm John had me quit early due to heat exhaustion. (didn't pack a jug) Everything at my spot was moved around. I'm talking 12-18" rocks were moved! There was flood debris at 7' above stream bottom hanging from the trees. All my old holes were paved in new cobble. The larger rocks were still in position. Wicked spring flood!!! The gold line seems to have, for the most part, stayed in position, but might have drifted to the center of the stream with all the moved material. Most of the gold seemed on the small side of normal, which would be flood gold.
Started by my old hole with the stream sluice and low flow mat. I tried to get it to move material, but couldn't make things budge. Upstream there was a semi-dam built by the spring flood, so I tried there. I could only get about 4 degrees there but the material started moving. I then started building a better dam as I dug, using what wouldn't budge on the flare for material. The flow became strong enough to slide 4" cobble down the mat. I did a cleanout as I wanted to switch to the high flow mat cause I was moving good sized cobbles. Quite a bit of gold for the size of the hole. Action on the mat was pretty good with dancing material.
The hole was capped with cobble with sand and gravel underneath, and then you would hit the old bottom which is real hard to dig into. I did the first cleanout on the high flow mat, and had about half the gold as the low flow mat. Didn't test the tailings as I'd have to dig another hole to get the pan low enough. I didn't have any problems with the tailings backing up the tail. I think I might have been overfeeding a bit when I'd get into the sand, but material was moving with no problems. The 4" rocks might have also stirred up the mat causing losses. I had about 3" of water over the mats, but everything was dancing nicely. The second cleanout was less than the first, so I expanded the hole upstream, as the hole might be depleted. The third was about the same as the first, so the hole was a little depleted, and I may also have moved off the gold line. I moved about a half yard or so.
It was nice to be able to shovel into the Stream Sluice without classifying. Did bag more than I would have with the Flow Pan. My tailings from this trip are going to a mining company. They might be interested in the blue rocks of the area, as they're interested in industrial diamonds and zirconium.
I'll do a picture when I get the cons panned out.
Started by my old hole with the stream sluice and low flow mat. I tried to get it to move material, but couldn't make things budge. Upstream there was a semi-dam built by the spring flood, so I tried there. I could only get about 4 degrees there but the material started moving. I then started building a better dam as I dug, using what wouldn't budge on the flare for material. The flow became strong enough to slide 4" cobble down the mat. I did a cleanout as I wanted to switch to the high flow mat cause I was moving good sized cobbles. Quite a bit of gold for the size of the hole. Action on the mat was pretty good with dancing material.
The hole was capped with cobble with sand and gravel underneath, and then you would hit the old bottom which is real hard to dig into. I did the first cleanout on the high flow mat, and had about half the gold as the low flow mat. Didn't test the tailings as I'd have to dig another hole to get the pan low enough. I didn't have any problems with the tailings backing up the tail. I think I might have been overfeeding a bit when I'd get into the sand, but material was moving with no problems. The 4" rocks might have also stirred up the mat causing losses. I had about 3" of water over the mats, but everything was dancing nicely. The second cleanout was less than the first, so I expanded the hole upstream, as the hole might be depleted. The third was about the same as the first, so the hole was a little depleted, and I may also have moved off the gold line. I moved about a half yard or so.
It was nice to be able to shovel into the Stream Sluice without classifying. Did bag more than I would have with the Flow Pan. My tailings from this trip are going to a mining company. They might be interested in the blue rocks of the area, as they're interested in industrial diamonds and zirconium.
I'll do a picture when I get the cons panned out.