Amazing Amethyst laced with Gold find

[kdummett]

My number five son brought home an amethyst crystal the other day. I told him to take me to where he found it. After poking around for a few minutes I found this amazing specimen. Within 45 minutes I had located several other specimens using nothing other than my bare hands to find it. Can anyone give me any information concerning its rarity and if it would be worth my time to stake a claim on the site. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

 

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[ClonedSIM]

Now that's PRETTY! I don't know if a staked claim would be worth the time, but it sure would be fun! Happy Hunting!

 

[coinshooter]

Have you tested this to make sure it is gold. Looks more like pyrite, but a test will positively id. Take it to a jeweler if you don't have the right stuff to test it, they will usually do it for free. 8)

 

[kdummett]

I have been to a jewler as well as several people who I know are experts in geology. The tests they performed on the specimen verify it is gold. The area where I found the specimen is a well know area for gold. I live in Foresthill California. Foresthill is smack dab in the heart of the motherlode. Nearby several hard rock mines are to be found. The Baltimore mine being the largest. The picture that I posted came out a little fuzzy when I reduced it to fit onto this site. The flash from the camera makes the gold shine more than it does in reality and the purple of the amethyst is much deeper.
Thanks for posting a reply.

 

[Bavaria Mike]

No idea what's involved with staking a claim, can't be any harder than getting a detecting permit here in Germany. I would take action and stake a claim as long as the $$$ are reasonable to do so. With that streak of gold in the rock, and found just nosing around, a detector would surley help and looks promising. Are you in a virginal area or digging through tailings? A nice Minelab GP3000 would be a great machine for detecting but they are costly, around $3000.00. HH and good luck with your decision, I would go for it, Mike

 

[kdummett]

The area where this specimen was found is in the heart of the California Motherlode. Foresthill was one of the largest gold towns in Placer County. The prospectors were so sure that the city would become so large and important that they constructed a main street to rival the one built in San Francisco. They had the belief that Foresthill would become the county seat. After the laws forbidding hydrolic mining were passed, commercial gold mining died out. Currently there are several hard rock mining operations working in the area. The location of my find is not in the American River channel. It is high up on the divide. Most of the deposits up there are from old tiertiary river channels bearing placer deposits. Drift mining is the most effective way of exploiting these resources . From the looks of it, I think I stumbled upon a pocket gold deposit. There is a lot of amethyst quartz but I have not located the reef from where it originates. I have no idea if there is a quartz dyke or not since the stuff I recovered was lose and spaced apart. I am going to purchase either a White or Fisher Gold Bug 2 to sweep the area to see if there is an actual deposit. My gutt feeling is there must be a lot more of what I found. It took me less than an hour to find several specimens. Along with that there is a lot of amethyst crystals scattered about. The crystals are large and are of a deep purple. From what I understand this is an unusual occurence since most of the amethyst found in the states is pale. I could very well make more money mining the amethyst despite the gold that is associated with it.

 

[Vrent]

go to BLM home page it will explain claim staking and what you need to do to see if someone else already has a claim..if no claim on area now if I were you I would claim it..great find

HH Vrent

 

[kermit]

Wow,
I'd like to dig that up a totlot


Kermit

 

[jlewisk]

Very nice, I would check into staking a claim though.

 

[Born2Dtect]

Mixed gold and rock finds are worth more at times than just gold. Yours are very nice and should fetch a pretty penny. Check out gold prospecting sites (GPAA) for information.

Ed Donovan

 

[comfyinvermont]

Very, Very nice...congrats...Lance

 

[JakePhelps]

 

[Kentucky Kache]

Nice.

 

[Nana40]

.........And what a FINE number five son you have!!! Wow! Really nice find!!! Wish you the best on your venture!

Nana

 

[cm5838]

blm website lr2000 and geocommunicator has been down for a long time, you can call the sac office and they can tell you if there is an active load claim there, but have the township, range and section number ready. You can also go to the county with the same info and check tax records and stuff. I have dealt with placer claims a lot and load is not a whole lot different. I am not too up on load mining, but it looks like a good spot to look. if the rocks you found were on the surface, look around for hills to see where they could have came from, possible they fell there or rolled, may be a much larger load just up a hill from there. I have been a placer miner for quite a while, but the load part is still new to me. Very nice peice by the way, and it woud be worth a whole lot more then spot on the gold.
Charles

 

[kdummett]

I figure I can fill you folks in about the geology of the area where I found the amethyst and gold.

The deposit is on the top of the divide located above the American River around 2500 feet. The over burden ranges between 7 and 12 feet. Before that is a 1 and a half foot thick conglomrated streambed. The specimens are being found a foot or so below this. The soil under the stream bed is a combination of mudstone and sandstone. The mud and sandstone resembles an onion skin with several layers. I haven't dug yet but I believe the main deposit will be around 10 to 15 feet in. I don't know this for a fack but it is my gut feeling.

 

[cm5838]

go with your gut, my gut feelings are usually right, usually.
Charles

 

[kdummett]

Can't believe I spelled fact FACK! What the heck, I am so excited about finding something I have looked for all of my life spelling never much entered into the equation.

 

[DugHoles]

WOW, what an amazing thing to find......real cool

GL & HH,

DugHoles

 

[Huntin' 59er]

Congrats on the amethyst and gold finds ! Hope it turns into a lot of money for you ! Good Luck and keep us posted.

Huntin' 59er