Oroville dredge tailings

[Caseyc]

Been out here a couple of times with no luck. I was wondering if anyone has ever done any good? It's right near my house so I'll keep trying, and any tips would be appreciated.

 

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[Aufisher]

Haven't tried those tailings. Ours look like this pic. I am going to guess that they classified and chucked a few trophy nugs however that low in elevation there mostly fines in the stream itself.

 

[Aufisher]

Here is half a yard of virgin soil mostly cobble, tons of black sand and fines.

 

[Caseyc]

Maybe that's why I haven't found any nuggets.

 

[californiagold]

You need to try tailings from a known water way that had nuggets found in the vicinity. Then you will probably do well. Remember nuggets arent as common as fines so you have to cover alot of piles sometimes before you have some luck. I think most bucketline and doodle bug dredges had trommel screens that screened out everything bigger then 1/2" so probably most 1/2 oz and bigger nuggets went out. You should also use a big coil to cover alot of piles faster. You are only going after bigger gold signals anyway. Good luck

 

[Caseyc]

Thank you all for the replies! I'm not expecting much, but this is a quick easy way for me to appease the fiendish gold demons. I used to run suction dredges on the yuba, and that gave me the fever pretty bad. Two small children at home just doesn't leave me enough time for that anymore, so I have to look for a less time consuming outlet.

 

[Bigauman]

My Grandmother told me stoies of her and her little brother following dredges at Clear Creek when she was a kid and finding several onces a day.

 

[Caseyc]

Well I tried it out yesterday and found no gold. I did find this though. its rather ironic because the pin says go for the gold!

 

[Caseyc]

On my way out I saw this. Maybe someone's trying to tell me something.

 

[DDancer]

Auspicious signs. *nods* Hehh. Might find something better than gold but stay away from me lucky charms!

 

[spillercanyon]

Look for piles with the largest cobbles, larger cobbles, bigger gold being moved. Good luck!

 

[meMiner]

I would suggest, to look for the parts of the piles that have the broken rock, as this is an indication that they were mining the bedrock. Round rock is from higher up. As for size, the larger cobbles in a pile were off the grizzly. The smaller stuff went thru the plant. Either may have gold, depending how well they washed the large cobbles (especially in areas with clay) or if there was larger gold that didn't get thru the grizzly. The smaller stuff is also good in spots, especially when they had a problem with their sluice (overloading, blockages, or just ineffective design).

 

[Lanny in AB]

In addition to all else that's been said, watch for areas that are heavy with clay . . .

Clay is a notorious robber of gold and it also likes to trap gold to its surface.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[Clay Diggins]

In addition to all else that's been said, watch for areas that are heavy with clay . . .

Clay is a notorious robber of gold and it also likes to trap gold to its surface.

All the best,

Lanny

I resent that Lanny, I've never robbed gold!
I have been known to get a bit sticky after a few days in the field although the smell is usually strong enough to warn people off.

Sometimes the "rules" for gold just fly out the door. I found a one kilo nugget in the Snelling dredge piles. Not known for big gold and about as far down as you can get and still find gold.

It's still out there and it's still wherever you find it.

Heavy Clay

 

[paydirt1850]

I have done a lot of research on the area from the Oro Dam Blvd bridge down stream to the afterbay outlet. The gold they were finding was very fine, most of it was 20 mesh and finer. The largest piece I found records on was 2 dwt. The odd of finding any nuggets are slim to none. I have found some cool relics and old bottles in the tailings. Stay out of the Lake Oroville state recreation area with the detector, they will tag you.

 

[CA Gold Hunter]

I have done a lot of research on the area from the Oro Dam Blvd bridge down stream to the afterbay outlet. The gold they were finding was very fine, most of it was 20 mesh and finer. The largest piece I found records on was 2 dwt. The odd of finding any nuggets are slim to none. I have found some cool relics and old bottles in the tailings. Stay out of the Lake Oroville state recreation area with the detector, they will tag you.

Thanks for the heads up. I live up in paradise and have thought about going down there when the lake was low but figured i'd just find a bunch of fishing lures and weights, glad i didnt make it out there yet.

 

[Aufisher]

You are closer to the lode in Paradise and Magalia.

 

[Caseyc]

I have done a lot of research on the area from the Oro Dam Blvd bridge down stream to the afterbay outlet. The gold they were finding was very fine, most of it was 20 mesh and finer. The largest piece I found records on was 2 dwt. The odd of finding any nuggets are slim to none. I have found some cool relics and old bottles in the tailings. Stay out of the Lake Oroville state recreation area with the detector, they will tag you.

Thank you that is the info I was looking for.

 

[fowledup]

A handy tool for pealing the layers of cobble is to take a pitch fork and heat up the tines than bend them over 90 degrees. I prefer a fine tined pitchfork because it works down into the rock better. I agree with what others have said that there are areas much closer to you that are far better. You might also try the Butte Creek Rec area which is steep but there are some nice tailing in there. Another idea is to try the old railway bed running through town and on up to Innskip, or the flume banks. Although if you can get permission to access some of the private land to the south and east of Oroville you may find a nice patch.

I detected an area as close to the lake as legally allowed and can tell you it would be hard to detect any good gold the closer you get to the lake due to the silt being introduced from the rivers. I dug one signal down two feet to uncover a Budweiser can with the current color and logo scheme. Also have to say that Bud and Corona drinkers seem to liter at least 3 to 1 out there, what's up with that -LOL? Casey, you wouldn't happen to be a Sparky would you?

 

[Caseyc]

If its a surname, I am not.