Utah gold prospecting and rockhounding

[KevinInColorado]

1.stay away from punch plate on the bazooka. Mostly for the reasons Arizau mentioned. I figured you were considering putting it over the A51 which might be good.
2. As you probably know, running flat doesn't guarantee a working fluid bed. Often some drop is needed. That said, flatter is better to catch the really small stuff.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Minelab PRO-FIND 35 Waterproof Pinpointer Metal Detector for Experts with Tone ID & Adjustable Sensitivity - Grab it through Amazon!

[utah mason]

1.stay away from punch plate on the bazooka. Mostly for the reasons Arizau mentioned. I figured you were considering putting it over the A51 which might be good.
2. As you probably know, running flat doesn't guarantee a working fluid bed. Often some drop is needed. That said, flatter is better to catch the really small stuff.

Yes over the A-51 was where I was planning on putting the punch plate. And bending it so it runs up to the top of bgt and over lap above the trap. And getting the the a-51 more level with trap opening so there's not that big dead space on the slick plate. Definitely not going to mess with the Grizzlies on the
Trap.

 

[utah mason]

Utah -

Watched the video - That A51 was severely choked up and had been blowing gold for most of your material processing - It obviously caught it's gold early in the dig. Just a question: It looked like the BGT was running pretty well - Do you normally run it flatter than that?

An 18 or 24" plastic sluice with a classifier? hmmm...

Yes I try and fun it slightly flatter than that. American fork river has a nice Swift flow. The a-51 would clear out a bit when I would take a break.

 

[utah mason]

Maxfields mines trip
Took the son up to maxfields mines up big cotton wood canyon to do some quartz crystal hunting. Fun little spot under a 30 drive from house, around the 9 mile marker up the canyon. We dug around in the old tailing piles. Thinking of taking a hike further up and checking out a few other areas. Definitely a popular spot. A few other groups came up while we were there. I commute up big cotton wood and over guardsmans pass, and there is almost always at least one car parked there every time I go by. Found a few nice crystals and one really nice piece of white quartz with pyrite all over it. Unfortunately I forgot to put it in the pack : ( I went back up the next morning on my way to work, but it was gone. Live and learn, if it's a nice piece just put it in the darn pack not just by the pack.
https://youtu.be/Lw9gpwp-7As

 

[fmrUSMC_0844]

I love going up to Maxfield Mine. I have found some nice quartz crystals up there. Ill be heading up to AF canyon on Friday for a little prospecting. Maybe Ill see you up there sometime!!

 

[utah mason]

CANCER FREE!!!!!!!
happy to report that my business partner's son is officially cancer free! It was a tough summer for him and the family but with a fantastic outcome. Finally he can get back to being a normal teen-ager. He's such a damn amazing young man. He always keep a positive attitude through the whole thing.
Luckily he only needed one credit to graduate(this is his senior year) he had planned on getting enough credits in his A.P. Classes to have his associates degree. Instead he is going to graduate fall semester and go straight to the U of U.
His goal even before getting leukemia was to go into pediatrics. I really believe that this experience will make him a much better doctor. Having been on the other side of treatment will definitely help him have a understanding what his patients are going through.
It's been awesome to watch him grow from a infant to such a great young man. Excited to see what the future holds for him.
Now comes the last scary part. Seeing what the final bill will be. Hopefully insurance will cover most of it. I know it's ruffly $ 300,000 per treatment, and he did 4 of them. Crazy expensive but worth every penny.

 

[utah mason]

I'm a little behind in cleaning up my cons. Had a couple of family trips that have taken up my free time. Here's the pictures and video from a early November trip. I was able to get a few hours up the canyon during the middle of the week. Which is my favorite time to get away. Kids are in school, so I don't feel like I'm neglecting them and there is less traffic in canyon. Started off a little cold but ended up being a beautiful day, with plenty of sunshine. Decided to hit the spot my son and I did before our last trip up to Timpanogos cave. I decided to try the A51 after the prospector again. Couldn't get it to run as well as I did the first time. It was packing up even worse than before. Then I noticed I could see the tubes in the bgt. Awe crap! Why didn't I notice earlier, not 20 mins until I needed to pack it up. Still some fair gold in clean up, but I wonder how much I redistributed down the river. Decided it was time to build a small aluminum sluice to go in front of bgt with gold hog mats.

Having problems uploading pictures try to edit later
https://youtu.be/YEqe35YeAl0

 

[utah mason]

Here's a video from a short trip from the Sunday before Thanksgiving. It was mainly a trip out to look for a few new spots, for Tuesday when I was going back up with Kevin. Found a couple of new spots I'll hit this spring. I did spend the last hour running the
A-51. Classified about 9 gallons of material at 1/4".
I hope you enjoy.
https://youtu.be/H-qpBiPSgxs

 

[KevinInColorado]

Next time we'll get up there!!

 

[fmrUSMC_0844]

Nice color!! I was up in AF Canyon on Tuesday (12\13) Below The reservoir about a mile or so. I didnt find any like that!! I am sure I am doing something wrong or digging in the wrong place. It was cold and there was some snow on the ground. I just dont think Im digging deep enough.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Nice color!! I was up in AF Canyon on Tuesday (12\13) Below The reservoir about a mile or so. I didnt find any like that!! I am sure I am doing something wrong or digging in the wrong place. It was cold and there was some snow on the ground. I just dont think Im digging deep enough.

The gold is said to be very spotty below the reservoir. It's there or at least here and there though!

 

[utah mason]

There is definitely gold below, but spotty as Kevin said. I've had a couple of good clean outs and some not so great ones.
This summer when they were letting some water out of the dam for construction they let out to much to quickly, resulting in a lot a slit with a high lead content to flood out killing all the fish for a few miles down stream. I'm not sure how it affected the gold deposits down stream. Maybe it put more overburden on them. I'm wondering how long the lead will stay in the water way. I'm thinking wearing panning gloves and trying to limit skin contact with water might be a good idea.
Here's a good clean up from just below dam last February, well what is good for me.
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1273127&d=1455507256

 

[fmrUSMC_0844]

Id say that is pretty good!! Ill just have to park by the restrooms and hike it over up above the reservoir!!

 

[utah mason]

I was erasing some pictures off my phone and realized I never posted the trip from November when Kevin and I did some sluicing in American fork canyon. Fun day! It was good to meet Kevin in person. The F.S. had just closed the gate after the storm the previous day. So we worked just up from the gate a 1/2 mile or so. Some gold was found, not a lot but a few pieces.
Here Is a pic of the clean up. For some reason it's not uploading the other pictures
View attachment 1408478

View attachment IMG_20170129_134509967.jpg

 

[63bkpkr]

um, the attachment comes up as invalid. Darn, I needed to have a look see at some color!...............63bkpkr

 

[utah mason]

um, the attachment comes up as invalid. Darn, I needed to have a look see at some color!...............63bkpkr

I added one more pic of gold, hope you can see that one. Tried again to upload pictures from that day in field, but it still won't. I'll try and do it from my computer instead of phone.

 

[utah mason]

Made it out for a few hours Sunday. I wish it would have been longer, but I overslept : ( which is really unusual, I'm usually up before the sun. Go figure the day my wife gives me the OK to go out I sleep in.
I of course went up to American fork canyon being it's one of the only places in my area. I hiked up about 2 miles, then came back a little ways as there was very little places that weren't covered in snow. I packed in my bgt prospector and the new extension with gold hog matting. I really wanted to take my
A-51 as well but that was just too much weight. As my time was limited I picked a spot did a couple of test pans. A couple of micros in each pan. I figured that's probably as good as it was going to get. so I quick set up the sluice and got to digging.
Not a fantastic clean up, but the weather and senary was great and that's a big plus for me.
View attachment IMG_20170205_102645969_HDR.jpg
View attachment IMG_20170205_102653035_HDR.jpg

View attachment IMG_20170205_133113116_HDR.jpg
Going to try that spot next

View attachment IMG_20170205_132538035_HDR.jpg

Here's the video I took.
https://youtu.be/DfpYhOJHVRU
Hopefully it won't be so dang long before I get back up.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Brr!!
Hey, I recognize the spot in that third pic!

 

[Goldfleks]

Can you post some pics of your prospector and the extension?

Also how about your pack in setup. I'm trying to figure out my pack and how to get everything comfortable and attached so I can access better spots.

 

[utah mason]

Can you post some pics of your prospector and the extension?

Also how about your pack in setup. I'm trying to figure out my pack and how to get everything comfortable and attached so I can access better spots.

Yes I can. I have two different packs I use. I keep one in my truck, I use for short walks or if I'm mainly doing sampling. And one larger one that's a little more comfortable with more weight on it. I'll try and do it tomorrow.