7 Buckets..

[DizzyDigger]

Before leaving the Calif. desert are to come home, I scooped
up 7 full buckets of raw material to work with once I got home.
They came from 3 different locations on 2 different claims; one
club claim there was a limit of 2 buckets allowed, and the balance
came from Ken's claim over closer to Hwy. 138.

We got rained on for a couple days, and this material was shoveled
out of the holes to dry. Didn't have time to run it through the trommel,
so it's basically just unclassified dirt/rocks that I'm hoping to find some
decent color in, as it all came from holes producing nice flakes and fines.

Initial plan was to take it over to one of my local creeks and run it through
the sluice box, but with the cold temps (really cold!) most creeks are frozen
over for awhile. Also got to thinking that the salmon may not appreciate me
introducing a completely foreign soil into the streams..so, I'm working all the
material right here in my little shop.

It's labor intensive as this is "dirty" dirt, so many buckets of water going
into just getting the stuff clean enough to pan. I'm classifying to #8 and
#20 mesh, then panning down the #20- material to concentrate it and
get rid of the dreck. Once I'm down to near black sand I dump it off into
a tub, and then re-classify those cons through #30 and #50 mesh classifiers,
and then run that material on the miller table. Larger material is just panned
out.

Gone through 2 buckets so far and am not too pleased with the results. BUT,
still got 5 more to go, and I know one of 'em has just gotta hold a picker, or
at the very worst some nice fat flakes!

Yes, indeed I am the "Ultimate Optimist"!


Starting bucket #3 this morning..no pics yet, but would be glad to post a few
if folks are interested.

 

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[DizzyDigger]

We had a sunny afternoon today, so I took Bucket #5 (5 gal.) down
to the river along with my vintage 14" Garrett pan, and an #8 mesh
classifier.

Panned it all down to near black sand, and then dumped it off into
a bucket so I could clean it up on the table. Also found a new cut
made where an underground water flow emerges from the bank. It
was heavy enough to have cut through about 3' of sand before it
reached the hard packed rock and gravel layer. Black sand was
everywhere along the curves made by the slow flow, so I scooped
up a bucketful and classified it down to 1/8"- and brought it back up
to the shop along with the con's from the Calif. bucket.

Once running on the miller table, I pulled 2 tiny flakes of about
#100 mesh size out of that 5 gal. bucket. At this rate I'll have
enough for a cup of coffee in about 5 years...

Panned down the black sand taken right off my beach, and then
classified that to #30+, #30- to #50+, and #50-. The #50- produced
5 pieces all in the #50 mesh range, and that was from just a few
scoops of randomly taken black sand right in the backyard, and
I got more from it than the last 2 full buckets of this Calif. material.
(Shoulda just stayed home and mined the backyard..

)

Only got 2, 5 gal buckets left. One side of me just wants to dump
'em and save the effort, but then the prospector in me says "You'd
be out of your ever lovin' mind to do so...there could be gold in there!"

I'm going with the prospector....

Here's a couple pics I shot while down on the beach. These are looking upriver,
and to the East. That is Sauk (pronounced: "sock") Mountain in the background
and then closer up.

 

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[KevinInColorado]

How do you ever leave a place that beautiful? Wow! ...and there's gold too!!

 

[gold tramp]

If I was living there I would completely forget about the whole gold thing as my first love is being a fisherman.
good to see you got some gold there Mike and im not talking about the yellow !
Nice back yard.

 

[kazcoro]

I hauled 6 fives back last week. Went through about half of one, and got maybe a 1/8 gram so far. A couple of flakes. Got quite a bit more to go through. I have been debating spreading it all out to dry and running it through the drywasher to speed up the process.

 

[kazcoro]

On the other hand, it might make a good rainy day stash. When I can't get out, or reality says I shouldn't go, I can pan,pan,pan the day away.

 

[KevinInColorado]

On the other hand, it might make a good rainy day stash. When I can't get out, or reality says I shouldn't go, I can pan,pan,pan the day away.

Might be interesting to dry wash it and then pan it to see how much the dry washer misses. I've heard (but have no experience) they commonly miss 1/3 of the gold!

 

[DizzyDigger]

Kevin, Herb: Actually, I don't leave the place too often, and
when I do I never get too far from the valley. The run down
to Calif. is about the only place I've been (besides locally) since
I drove down to So. Cal. last Spring. I *might* go to town
(Mount Vernon) once a week for groceries and whatever else
is needed, but that's a 60 mile round trip.

Fish? We got 'em! 5 runs of Salmon a year, plus Dolly Varden
trout in the 3-6lb. range, and then there's 2 runs of Steelhead
..one wild, the other hatchery fish. There are many days in the
Fall when you can wear yourself out (literally) catching Coho
and Chum salmon right in the backyard...

BTW, there is an empty lot next door that the owner has set up
with 2 RV pads, and full hook-ups, so if anyone wants to spend
a few days here there's ample room for an RV. I believe he charges
$300 mo. for the RV spots, including all the amenities.

Kaz, I'd save it for that rainy day. Weather's nasty here this
time of year, and days like yesterday are rare. Tonight I'm planning
on getting through Bucket #6, but I'll have to do all the panning
here in the shop as A) it's colderanhell and raining, and B) it's 10:15 PM.

Kevin, that might apply for running damp dirt, but from what I learned
down in Calif. if the dirt is really dry a drywasher won't miss much on
the first run. Ken and I re-ran a couple of his runs, and the amount of
gold we got on the 2nd run was negligible.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Interesting, thanks for the info

 

[DizzyDigger]

Bucket #6 appears to be the one I was waiting for....

After classifying, I'm panning down the #20- material and am about
30% of the way through the bucket. So far I've counted about 20
small pieces (mostly in the #30 mesh range), and there's likely some
I've missed as I'm just taking a quick glance before I wash the pan
out into a tupperware container for later processing on the miller table.

"The Good Stuff"


Other than being out digging more gold, life couldn't
get much easier than this...

 

[DizzyDigger]

Spoke with Ken yesterday, and he was on his way back from doing
some more digging in the same hole the dirt I brought back came
from. Said he dug into what looked like an old tailing pile right next
to where I stopped digging, so odds are I've been re-working some
dirt someone else worked many years ago.

Here's the total from the 7 buckets...



Total take for the trip ended up at .4g according to my scale.

It did keep me busy for a few days, but now that I'm done with
what I brought back it's time to go hunting for some better spots
locally. 6" of snow on the ground at the moment, but soon as it's
melted off enough I'll be down at the creek poking around..

 

[Fullpan]

Hey Mike - love your little hide-a-way office/gold processing room. Got all u need - miller table, snuffer bottle, hand-held magnifier, nice panning station with the "Ott light". Even have the computer tuned in to TNET - lol.

 

[TAKODA]

Nice shine .

 

[DizzyDigger]

Hey Mike - love your little hide-a-way office/gold processing room. Got all u
need - miller table, snuffer bottle, hand-held magnifier, nice panning station with the "Ott light". Even have
the computer tuned in to TNET - lol.

Needed a spot to store stuff in the garage, so it started out as
a 8' x 16' storage space. I don't smoke in the house, and wanted
to have a spot out in the garage where I could set up my computer,
so, we found a way to pack all the stuff into a smaller space,
and then I added a wall so I wouldn't need to keep the entire space
warm. Winters here are cold and damp, so the walls are insulated as
well as double layer insulation on the ceiling. With a floor heater I can
keep it in the mid-60's in January, which is plenty warm enough for me.

Wasn't long before I added high-speed internet and digital cable TV,
and then the bench for the miller table (used to use it for a workbench).
Even got an full stereo system that's in another part of the room, and
there's a fridge just outside too. Granted, it's a lot to pack into an
8'x10' space, but it works well for me.

Probably spend 12+ hrs a day out here unless I'm off prospecting somewhere,
and mostly late night when everything has quieted down. I've got no set schedule,
so get up when I want and sleep when the need arises.

Life is good....

 

[KevinInColorado]

Pretty great, something for some of us to aspire to!